Mr. Cole, Drs. Ball, and McGuffin are with the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry; Dr. Martin is with the School of Psychology, Curtin University; and Dr. Scourfield is with the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine.
Mr. Cole, Drs. Ball, and McGuffin are with the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry; Dr. Martin is with the School of Psychology, Curtin University; and Dr. Scourfield is with the Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine.
J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2009 Nov;48(11):1094-1101. doi: 10.1097/CHI.0b013e3181b7666e.
Evidence suggests that there is substantial comorbidity between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and major depressive disorder in childhood and adolescence. This study aims to investigate the degree to which etiological factors are shared between the symptoms of these significantly heritable disorders.
A twin study design was used to determine to what extent the covariation between the traits of ADHD and depression is genetically or environmentally mediated, based on parental reports. A general community sample of 645 twin pairs aged 5 to 17 years from the Cardiff Study of All Wales and North England Twins project took part in the study. Parent-rated measures of hyperactivity/inattention (Abbreviated Conners Hyperactivity subscale) and depression (Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire).
Phenotypes derived from the scales were significantly correlated in both boys and girls. Bivariate structural equation modeling revealed a large overlap in underlying genetic factors (boys, rA = 0.77; girls, rA = 0.67) along with a smaller influence of nonshared environment.
These findings suggest that there are common genes conferring liability to both hyperactive/inattentive and depressive traits in children and adolescents. This has implications for future molecular genetic research into ADHD and major depressive disorder. Additionally, it indicates that the comorbid clinical presentation of these disorders may reflect a common genetic pathway.
有证据表明，在儿童和青少年时期，注意缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD）和重性抑郁障碍之间存在大量共病。本研究旨在调查这些具有显著遗传性疾病的症状之间的病因因素在多大程度上是共同的。
采用双生子研究设计，根据父母报告，确定 ADHD 和抑郁症状之间的变异在多大程度上是遗传或环境介导的。来自威尔士和英格兰北部双胞胎研究全威尔士和北英格兰双胞胎项目的 645 对 5 至 17 岁的普通社区双胞胎参加了这项研究。父母评定的多动/注意力不集中量表（简明康纳多动量表亚量表）和抑郁量表（短情绪和感觉问卷）。
两个性别中，从量表中得出的表型均显著相关。双变量结构方程模型显示，潜在遗传因素（男孩，rA=0.77；女孩，rA=0.67）存在很大重叠，非共享环境的影响较小。
这些发现表明，在儿童和青少年中，存在共同的基因使他们容易患上多动/注意力不集中和抑郁的特征。这对未来 ADHD 和重性抑郁障碍的分子遗传学研究具有重要意义。此外，这表明这些疾病的共病临床表现可能反映了一种共同的遗传途径。
