Plamondon André, Tarabulsy George M, Dionne Ginette, Ouellet-Morin Isabelle, Vitaro Frank, Brendgen Mara, Boivin Michel
Department of Educational Fundamentals and Practices, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
School of Psychology, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
Front Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2023 Jun 14;2:1113938. doi: 10.3389/frcha.2023.1113938. eCollection 2023.
School underachievement has been shown to mediate the association between inattention and depressive symptoms in middle childhood. However, is it not clear whether these sequential associations are underpinned by genetic and environmental pathways, and the extent to which associated disruptive behaviors, such as hyperactivity/impulsivity, and peer relation difficulties partly account for these associations.
The present study used a longitudinal study of twins assessed from Kindergarten to Grade 6 to address these questions using multivariate biometric modeling.
The hypothesized genetically informed (twin) model revealed that over and above disruptive behaviors and relational difficulties, there was evidence for (1) shared genetic factors partly accounting for these associations, and for (2) putative phenotype-to-phenotype associations sequentially linking inattention, school achievement, and depressive symptoms.
Confirmation of the expected sequence of phenotype-to-phenotype associations (i.e., in addition to shared genetic factors) suggests an environmental pathway linking these phenotypes. The discussion focuses on the relevance and significance of these pathways for understanding the development of school and mental health problems, as well as for the identification of children at risk and early preventive interventions.
研究表明，学业成绩不佳在童年中期注意力不集中与抑郁症状之间的关联中起中介作用。然而，尚不清楚这些相继出现的关联是否由遗传和环境途径所支撑，以及诸如多动/冲动等相关破坏性行为和同伴关系困难在多大程度上部分解释了这些关联。
本研究采用了一项从幼儿园到六年级对双胞胎进行评估的纵向研究，通过多变量生物统计学建模来解决这些问题。
假设的基于遗传信息的（双胞胎）模型显示，除了破坏性行为和关系困难之外，有证据表明：（1）共同的遗传因素在一定程度上解释了这些关联；（2）存在假定的表型到表型的关联，依次将注意力不集中、学业成绩和抑郁症状联系起来。
对预期的表型到表型关联序列的证实（即除了共同的遗传因素之外）表明存在一条将这些表型联系起来的环境途径。讨论聚焦于这些途径对于理解学业和心理健康问题发展的相关性和重要性，以及对于识别有风险的儿童和早期预防干预措施的意义。
