Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, USA.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2020 Oct;61(10):1070-1079. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13328. Epub 2020 Sep 14.
Prior research has established links between poor sleep and problems in emotion regulation. Impulsivity and anger/frustration are core features of child psychopathology. Further, sleep problems are commonly associated with psychopathology. This study examined shared and unique genetic and environmental influences on sleep, impulsivity, and anger/frustration in the middle childhood period with potential ramifications for psychopathology.
Families (29.9% monozygotic, 38.6% same-sex dizygotic, 31.5% opposite-sex dizygotic) from a longitudinal twin study participated (N = 613 twins). Twins (M = 8.37, SD = 0.66; 49% female; 58% non-Latinx European American, 30% Latinx) wore actigraph watches for seven days to assess sleep. Primary caregivers (95.3% mothers) completed standardized questionnaires to assess twins' temperament (impulsivity, anger/frustration).
Univariate ACE twin structural equation models indicated strong genetic influences (76%) on impulsivity, whereas the largest proportion of variance in anger/frustration was attributed to the shared environment (56%). Bivariate model fitting indicated that sleep-impulsivity and sleep-anger/frustration associations in children are genetic; thus, a mutual underlying genetic factor likely contributes to the commonality in these associations.
Given evidence that sleep problems, impulsivity, and anger/frustration are mechanisms associated with psychopathology, our findings suggest a genetic commonality and the need to focus on shared and unique risk factors when understanding etiology. Early intervention and prevention efforts should target both sleep problems and high levels of impulsivity and anger/frustration in children, which may have implications for later psychopathology.
先前的研究已经证实了睡眠质量差与情绪调节问题之间存在关联。冲动和愤怒/挫败感是儿童精神病理学的核心特征。此外，睡眠问题通常与精神病理学有关。本研究考察了在儿童中期睡眠、冲动和愤怒/挫败感之间具有共同和独特遗传和环境影响的因素，这些因素可能对精神病理学有影响。
来自一项纵向双胞胎研究的家庭（29.9%的同卵双胞胎，38.6%的同性异卵双胞胎，31.5%的异性异卵双胞胎）参与了这项研究（N=613 对双胞胎）。双胞胎（M=8.37，SD=0.66；49%为女性；58%为非拉丁裔欧洲裔美国人，30%为拉丁裔）佩戴活动记录仪 7 天以评估睡眠。主要照顾者（95.3%为母亲）完成了标准化问卷，以评估双胞胎的气质（冲动、愤怒/挫败感）。
单变量 ACE 双胞胎结构方程模型表明，冲动具有很强的遗传影响（76%），而愤怒/挫败感的最大比例差异归因于共同环境（56%）。双变量模型拟合表明，儿童睡眠-冲动和睡眠-愤怒/挫败感之间的关联是遗传的；因此，一个共同的潜在遗传因素可能导致这些关联的共性。
鉴于睡眠问题、冲动和愤怒/挫败感是与精神病理学相关的机制的证据，我们的研究结果表明存在遗传共性，并且在理解病因时需要关注共同和独特的风险因素。早期干预和预防措施应针对儿童的睡眠问题以及高冲动和愤怒/挫败感，这可能对以后的精神病理学有影响。
