Mauri Maddalena, Grazioli Silvia, Bonivento Carolina, Crippa Alessandro, Giorda Roberto, Maggioni Eleonora, Mambretti Fabiana, Rosi Eleonora, Squarcina Letizia, Tizzoni Federica, Brambilla Paolo, Nobile Maria
Child Psychopathology Unit, Scientific Institute, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Bosisio Parini, Italy.
Department of Psychology, Sigmund Freud University, 20143 Milan, Italy.
Biomolecules. 2025 Aug 7;15(8):1142. doi: 10.3390/biom15081142.
This cross-sectional study aims to identify clusters of internalizing and externalizing traits during adolescence using a bottom-up approach. The second aim is to investigate whether the different clusters differ by environmental risk factors and specific epigenetic profiles. A total of 205 adolescents, who had been referred for psychopathology in childhood, were recruited. Behavioral problems were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist/6-18 (CBCL). Different clusters of psychopathological profiles were analyzed using a Finite mixture model. Differences in environmental risk factors and epigenetic profiles were tested with χ-tests and Bonferroni-corrected t-tests. Two clusters were identified: a LOW cluster (51% of the sample), characterized by the presence of subclinical mean scores in both internalizing and externalizing problems, and a HIGH cluster (49% of the sample), characterized by high mean scores in both domains. The HIGH cluster had a significantly greater number of perinatal complications and changes in methylation of specific CpG sites of , , and , whereas no difference was found for . Our results confirm the existence of a strong association between early adverse events, DNA methylation, and the presence of behavioral problems and psychopathological traits in adolescence.
这项横断面研究旨在采用自下而上的方法识别青少年内化和外化特质的集群。第二个目标是调查不同的集群在环境风险因素和特定表观遗传特征方面是否存在差异。总共招募了205名童年期曾因精神病理学问题被转诊的青少年。使用儿童行为检查表/6 - 18（CBCL）评估行为问题。使用有限混合模型分析不同的精神病理特征集群。通过χ检验和Bonferroni校正的t检验来检验环境风险因素和表观遗传特征的差异。识别出两个集群：一个低风险集群（占样本的51%），其特征是内化和外化问题均存在亚临床平均得分；另一个高风险集群（占样本的49%），其特征是两个领域的平均得分都很高。高风险集群的围产期并发症数量显著更多，并且特定CpG位点（、和）的甲基化发生了变化，而未发现（此处原文缺失相关内容）存在差异。我们的结果证实了早期不良事件、DNA甲基化与青少年行为问题和精神病理特质之间存在密切关联。
