École de psychologie, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada.
Department of Neurology, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2021 Nov;62(11):1320-1329. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.13459. Epub 2021 Jun 3.
Children who consistently withdraw from social situations face increased risk for later socioemotional difficulties. Twin studies indicate that genetic factors substantially account for the persistence of social withdrawal over time. However, the molecular genetic etiology of chronic courses of social wariness and preference for solitude, two dimensions of social withdrawal, remains undocumented. The objectives of the present study were (a) to identify high-risk trajectories for social wariness and preference for solitude in childhood and (b) to examine whether falling on these high-risk trajectories can be predicted by specific polygenic scores for mental health traits and disorders and by a general polygenic predisposition to these traits.
Teachers evaluated 971 genotyped children at five occasions (age 6 to 12 years) from two prospective longitudinal studies, the Quebec Newborn Twin Study and the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Developmental trajectories for social wariness and preference for solitude were identified. We tested whether polygenic scores for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, depression, loneliness, and subjective well-being, as well as a general mental health genetic risk score derived across these traits, were associated with the developmental trajectories.
Polygenic scores differentially predicted social wariness and preference for solitude. Only the loneliness polygenic score significantly predicted the high trajectory for social wariness. By contrast, the general mental health genetic risk score factor was associated with the trajectory depicting high-chronic preference for solitude.
Distinct associations were uncovered between the polygenic scores, social wariness, and preference for solitude.
持续回避社交情境的儿童日后更易出现社会情绪问题。双胞胎研究表明，遗传因素在社交回避的持续时间方面起着重要作用。然而，社交警惕和偏好独处这两个回避社交维度的慢性病程的分子遗传病因仍未被记录。本研究的目的是：(a) 确定儿童期社交警惕和偏好独处的高风险轨迹；(b) 检验特定的心理健康特征和障碍的多基因评分以及这些特征的一般多基因易感性是否可以预测这些高风险轨迹。
在两项前瞻性纵向研究——魁北克新生儿双胞胎研究和魁北克儿童发展纵向研究中，教师在五个时间点（6 至 12 岁）对 971 名基因分型的儿童进行了评估。确定了社交警惕和偏好独处的发展轨迹。我们检验了注意缺陷多动障碍、自闭症谱系障碍、抑郁、孤独和主观幸福感的多基因评分，以及这些特征的一般心理健康遗传风险评分，是否与发展轨迹相关。
多基因评分差异预测了社交警惕和偏好独处。只有孤独的多基因评分显著预测了社交警惕的高轨迹。相比之下，一般心理健康遗传风险评分因素与描绘高慢性偏好独处的轨迹相关。
多基因评分与社交警惕和偏好独处之间存在明显的关联。
