Shared Genetic Influences Between Loss-of-Control Eating and Body Mass Index in Adolescent Twins.

OBJECTIVE: Pediatric loss-of-control (LOC) eating is associated with high BMI and predicts binge-eating disorder and obesity onset with age. Research on the etiology of this common comorbidity has not explored the potential for shared genetic risk. This study examined genetic and environmental influences on LOC eating and its shared influence with BMI. METHOD: Participants were 499 monozygotic and 398 same-sex dizygotic twins (age = 17.38 years ± 0.67, BMIz = 0.03 ± 1.03, 54% female) from the Colorado Center for Antisocial Drug Dependence Study. LOC eating was assessed dichotomously. Self-reported height and weight were converted to BMIz. Univariate and bivariate twin models estimated genetic and environmental influences on LOC eating and BMIz. RESULTS: More girls (21%) than boys (9%, p < 0.001) reported LOC eating. The phenotypic correlation with BMIz was 0.03 in girls and 0.18 in boys. Due to the nonsignificant phenotypic correlation in girls, bivariate twin models were fit in boys only. Across all models, the best-fitting model included genetic and unique environmental effects. Genetic factors accounted for 0.51 (95% CI: 0.23, 0.73) of the variance of LOC eating in girls and 0.54 (0.18, 0.90) in boys. The genetic correlation between LOC eating and BMIz in boys was 0.45 (0.15, 0.75). DISCUSSION: Findings indicate moderate heritability of LOC eating in adolescence, while emphasizing the role of unique environmental factors. In boys, LOC eating and BMIz share a proportion of their genetic influences.

An examination of early socioeconomic status and neighborhood disadvantage as independent predictors of antisocial behavior: A longitudinal adoption study.

The present study examined early socioeconomic status (SES) and neighborhood disadvantage (ND) as independent predictors of antisocial behavior (ASB) and addressed the etiology of the associations (i.e., genes versus the environment) using a longitudinal adoption design. Prospective data from the Colorado Adoption Project (435 adoptees, 598 nonadopted children, 526 biological grandparents of adoptees, 481 adoptive parents, and 617 nonadoptive parents including biological parents of unrelated siblings of adoptees) were examined. SES and ND were assessed during infancy and ASB was evaluated from ages four through 16 using parent and teacher report. Associations between predictors and ASB were compared across adoptive and nonadoptive families and sex. Early SES was a nominally significant, independent predictor of antisocial ASB, such that lower SES predicted higher levels of ASB in nonadoptive families only. ND was not associated with ASB. Associations were consistent across aggression and delinquency, and neither SES nor ND was associated with change in ASB over time. Nominally significant associations did not remain significant after controlling for multiple testing. As such, despite nonsignificant differences in associations across sex or adoptive status, we were unable to make definitive conclusions regarding the genetic versus environmental etiology of or sex differences in the influence of SES and ND on ASB. Despite inconclusive findings, in nonadoptees, results were consistent-in effect size and direction-with previous studies in the literature indicating that lower SES is associated with increased risk for ASB.

Subjective effects as predictors of substance use disorders in a clinical sample: A longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: The literature on the association between subjective effects (SEs; i.e., how an individual perceives their physiological and psychological reactions to a drug) and substance use disorders (SUDs) is largely limited to community samples. The present study addressed the following aims in a clinical sample: whether SEs predict general versus substance-specific SUD in adolescence and adulthood after controlling for conduct disorder symptoms (CDsymp); whether SEs predict SUDs across drug classes; whether SEs predict change in SUD from adolescence to adulthood; and whether there are racial/ethnic differences in associations. METHODS: Longitudinal analyses were conducted using data from a sample of 744 clinical probands recruited from residential and outpatient SUD treatment facilities in CO during adolescence (Mage = 16.26) and re-assessed twice in adulthood (Mages = 22.56 and 28.96), approximately seven and twelve years after first assessment. SEs and CDsymp were assessed in adolescence. SUD severity was assessed at adolescence and twice during adulthood. RESULTS: SEs assessed in adolescence robustly predicted general SUD for legal and illegal substances in adolescence and adulthood, whereas CDsymp predicted SUD primarily in adolescence. Higher positive and negative SEs in adolescence were associated with greater SUD severity after controlling for CDsymp, with similar magnitudes. Results indicated cross-substance effects of SEs on SUD. We found no evidence for racial/ethnic differences in associations. CONCLUSIONS: We investigated the progression of SUD in a high-risk sample with greater odds of sustained SUD. In contrast to CDsymp, both positive and negative SEs consistently predicted general SUD across substances in adolescence and adulthood.

Alternative hypotheses regarding the association between early engagement in gambling and gambling-like activities and later problem gambling - a commentary on Richard and King (2023).

This issue of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry includes a systematic review on the emergence of problem gambling from childhood to emerging adulthood (Richard & King, 2023). The importance of understanding the risks for problem gambling earlier in development is clear, given the increasing availability of gambling to minors, especially online gambling.

Anxiety-specific associations with substance use: Evidence of a protective factor in adolescence and a risk factor in adulthood.

Externalizing psychopathology is a strong risk factor for substance use, whereas the role of internalizing manifestations of distress, and anxiety in particular, in predicting substance use remains unclear. Studies have suggested that anxiety may be either a protective or risk factor for substance use. The present study aimed to clarify evidence for anxiety-specific associations with substance use, examining sex and developmental period (adolescence vs. adulthood) as potential moderators that may help explain conflicting results in the literature. In a longitudinal twin sample, cross-sectional associations of anxiety with substance use differed in adolescents and adults and in girls/women and boys/men. Controlling for externalizing psychopathology and depression, anxiety was associated with reduced substance use in adolescent girls and increased substance use in adult women. In contrast, anxiety-specific associations with substance use were not significant in boys and men. Possible explanations for these contrasting results across development and sex are discussed.

Associations between parenting characteristics and adolescent substance use: A genetically informed, longitudinal adoption study.

The present study examined putative environmental predictors of adolescent substance use, using a prospective adoption design to distinguish between environmental mediation (i.e., parenting influencing adolescent substance use), passive gene-environment correlation (i.e., parental genetic predisposition influencing the association between parenting characteristics and adolescent substance use), and evocative gene-environment correlation (i.e., children's genetic predisposition influencing parenting). Longitudinal data from the Colorado Adoption Project (395 adoptees, 491 nonadoptees, 485 adoptive parents, and 490 biological parents) were examined. Children (48% girls) were assessed at ages 1 to 17 years. Over 90% of the sample were non-Hispanic White. Associations between parenting and adolescent substance use were compared between adoptive and nonadoptive families. Positive, negative, and inconsistent parenting measures in early childhood through adolescence were not consistently associated with adolescent substance use, with only 6% of correlations being statistically significant (r = -0.152 to .207). However, parent-child relationship quality assessed from childhood to adolescence and orientation to parents assessed during adolescence were significantly, negatively associated with adolescent substance use, with 71% of correlations being statistically significant (r = -0.88 to -0.11). There was little evidence of sex differences in the associations. Environmental mediation, rather than passive or evocative gene-environment correlation, explained most associations.

Causal effects of cannabis legalization on parents, parenting, and children: A systematic review.

Medical and recreational cannabis legalization lead to increased cannabis use among adults. There is concern that legalization has negative implications for minors via effects on parents. We conducted a systematic review of studies examining legalization in the United States. Web of Science, PsycInfo, and PubMed were searched through May 2021, studies examining effects of legalization on maternal cannabis and other substance use during pregnancy and postpartum, perinatal outcomes, parental cannabis and other substance use and attitudes, parenting, and child outcomes were identified, and two independent reviewers extracted information on study designs, samples, and outcomes, and assessed classification of evidence and risk of bias. Forty-one studies met inclusion criteria; only 6 (15%) used the most causally informative study design (difference in differences). It is likely legalization increases maternal cannabis use during pregnancy and postpartum, parental cannabis use, and approval of adult cannabis use. Legalization may increase some adverse perinatal outcomes, though findings were inconsistent. It is likely legalization increases unintentional pediatric cannabis exposure. There is insufficient evidence for effects of legalization on child abuse and neglect, and there have been no studies examining effects of legalization on other aspects of parenting or on child adjustment. There is a critical lack of causally informative epidemiological studies examining effects of legalization on parenting and young children. Additional causally informative research is needed. Studies of parental cannabis use in a legal context are particularly needed. Commonsense guidelines must recognize the shifting national landscape around legalization while seeking to minimize potential harm to minors.

Genetically informative analysis of the association between intimate relationship adjustment and health.

OBJECTIVE: Prior research has found a positive association between the quality or adjustment of an individual's intimate relationship, such as marriage, and their physical health. However, it is possible that this association may be due, at least in part, to confounding variables (i.e., variables that are causally associated both with relationship adjustment and health and could account for their covariation), including genetically influenced confounds. This study was conducted using a genetically informative sample of twins to examine the association between intimate relationship adjustment and self-rated health, accounting for unmeasured genetic and environmental confounds. METHOD: A Swedish sample of 539 monozygotic and dizygotic twins (321 male twin pairs and 218 female twin pairs) and their spouse or long-term partner completed self-report measures of relationship adjustment and health. RESULTS: Relationship adjustment was positively associated with self-rated health in male and female twins. For male twins, nonshared environmental influences largely accounted for the association between relationship adjustment and health; for female twins, this association was generally explained by shared and nonshared environmental influences. For male twins, results obtained from partners' reports of relationship adjustment were largely consistent with those obtained from twins' reports. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that the association between relationship adjustment and self-rated health remains after accounting for shared genetic influences, and that nonshared environmental influences, such as partners' characteristics, account for the association between relationship adjustment and self-rated health in men. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Children's Knowledge of Cannabis and Other Substances in States with Different Cannabis Use Regulations.

Background: Public acceptance of cannabis continues to increase across the US, yet there has been little research on how cannabis legalization affects young children. The present study compared knowledge of cannabis and other substances among children living in states with different cannabis laws and examined whether the association between such substance knowledge and externalizing behavior varies by state cannabis regulations. Methods: Participants were from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM Study (ABCD Study®) at the baseline assessment (N = 11,875, ages 9-11, collected from 2016 to 2018). Chi-square difference tests were used to compare nested models testing group differences in knowledge of substances and the association between externalizing disorder/behavior and substance knowledge as a function of state legality of cannabis use (recreational, medical, low THC/CBD, none). Results: Children living in states with more permissive cannabis laws had a greater knowledge of cannabis and reported more alcohol experimentation. In contrast, knowledge regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs was not greater in children from states with more permissive cannabis laws. Externalizing disorder/behavior was not significantly associated with cannabis knowledge in any group and not significantly different across groups. The association between externalizing disorder/behavior and illicit drug knowledge was significant only in states with the recreational and medical use laws but did not differ significantly across groups. Conclusion: Children living in environments with more permissive cannabis regulations have greater knowledge of cannabis, but not other substances, and report more experimentation with alcohol.

Genetic and environmental relations of executive functions to antisocial personality disorder symptoms and psychopathy.

Meta-analytic findings suggest that antisocial behavior, broadly defined, may relate to a Common Executive Function (EF) factor that captures covariance across response inhibition, working memory updating, and mental set shifting tasks. However, it is unclear whether this common factor, which is isomorphic with individual differences in response inhibition, accounts for all of the EF variance in antisocial behavior and psychopathy, or if they also relate to updating- and shifting-specific abilities. Moreover, findings that antisocial behavior and lower cognitive ability are particularly associated with the psychopathy dimension reflecting impulsivity and irresponsibility, compared to the dimension reflecting affective-interpersonal functioning, raise the possibility that EF relates to the variance shared between the impulsive-irresponsible psychopathy dimension and antisocial personality disorder. We examined these questions in a young adult twin sample (N = 765) with measures of multiple EF latent variables, Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy (LSRP) Primary (affective-interpersonal) and Secondary (impulsive-irresponsible) scales, and antisocial personality disorder symptoms (ASPDsx). Phenotypically, higher ASPDsx and LSRP Secondary psychopathy, but not LSRP Primary psychopathy, were associated with lower Common EF. Moreover, both psychopathy dimensions were negatively correlated with Updating-Specific ability, which was unrelated to ASPDsx. Results from twin models indicated that the association between LSRP Secondary psychopathy and ASPDsx was due to both genetic and nonshared environmental influences; however, Common EF's association with ASPDsx was primarily genetic, whereas its association with LSRP Secondary psychopathy had a significant environmental component. Thus, the interrelations among these constructs may reflect heterogeneous etiological pathways.

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Stressful Life Events and their Associations with Executive Functions in Young Adulthood: A Longitudinal Twin Analysis.

Although stress is frequently considered an environmental factor, dependent stressful life events (SLEs)--stressors that result from one's actions or behaviors--may in fact be evoked by a genetic liability. It has been suggested that dependent SLEs may be partially caused by poor executive function (EFs), higher-level cognitive abilities that enable individuals to implement goal-directed behavior. We investigated the possibility of genetic and environmental overlap between SLEs and EFs in a longitudinal twin study. We found high genetic stability in the number of dependent SLEs from age 23 to age 29, suggesting that the number of dependent stressors show persistence across time due to their genetic etiology. In addition, there was a nominally significant negative genetic correlation between a Common EF latent factor and dependent SLEs at age 23. The genetic stability of dependent SLEs and association with Common EF provides insight into how some behaviors may lead to persistent stress.

The association between toddlerhood empathy deficits and antisocial personality disorder symptoms and psychopathy in adulthood.

The present study examined empathy deficits in toddlerhood (age 14 to 36 months) as predictors of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) symptoms and psychopathy measured by the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy scale (Levenson, Kiehl, & Fitzpatrick, 1995) in adulthood (age 23 years) in 956 individuals from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study. Consistent with the hypothesis that antisocial behavior is associated with "active" rather than "passive" empathy deficits, early disregard for others, not lack of concern for others, predicted later ASPD symptoms. Early disregard for others was also significantly associated with factor 1 of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, which includes items assessing interpersonal and affective deficits, but not with factor 2, which includes items assessing impulsivity and poor behavioral control. The association between early disregard for others and psychopathy factor 2 was near zero after controlling for the shared variance between psychopathy factors 1 and 2. These results suggest that there is a propensity toward adulthood ASPD symptoms and psychopathy factor 1 that can be assessed early in development, which may help identify individuals most at risk for stable antisocial outcomes.

Differential associations between rumination and intelligence subtypes.

Although prior theory suggests that rumination contributes to cognitive impairments associated with depression, recent work suggests that rumination is associated with higher levels of intelligence. The present study examined the relations between two ruminative subtypes (brooding and reflective pondering) and multiple measures and types of intelligence (verbal and performance) after controlling for rumination's overlapping variance with depression. Participants were 751 individuals from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study who completed the Ruminative Response Scale; the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale and a fully structured clinical interview as measures of depression; and verbal and performance intelligence tasks at age 16 and the Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices at age 23. Reflective pondering was positively associated with all measures of intelligence, whereas brooding was not associated with intelligence. Our findings indicate that any negative associations between rumination and intelligence are attributable to shared variance with depression, and that examination of rumination as a multifaceted construct may provide new insights into the relations between rumination and cognition.

Investigating the causal effect of cannabis use on cognitive function with a quasi-experimental co-twin design.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear whether cannabis use causes cognitive decline; several studies show an association between cannabis use and cognitive decline, but quasi-experimental twin studies have found little support for a causal effect. Here, we evaluate the association of cannabis use with general cognitive ability and executive functions (EFs) while controlling for genetic and shared environmental confounds in a longitudinal twin study. METHODS: We first examined the phenotypic associations between cannabis initiation, frequency, and use disorder with cognitive abilities, while also controlling for pre-use general cognitive ability and other substance involvement. We tested the concurrent association between the cannabis use variables and cognitive abilities in late adolescence and young adulthood and the longitudinal association between cannabis use variables during adolescence and young adulthood cognitive abilities. Next, we used multilevel models to test whether these relations reflect between- and/or within-twin pair associations. RESULTS: Phenotypically, cannabis use was related to poorer cognitive functioning, although most associations were negligible after accounting for other substance use. Nevertheless, there were few significant within-family twin-specific associations, except that age 17 cannabis frequency was associated with worse age 23 Common EF and general cognitive ability. CONCLUSIONS: We found little support for a potential causal effect of cannabis use on cognition, consistent with previous twin studies. Results suggest that cannabis use may not cause decline in cognitive ability among a normative sample of cannabis users.

Rumination and executive functions: Understanding cognitive vulnerability for psychopathology.

INTRODUCTION: Both rumination, a pattern of repetitive, self-focused thought in response to distress, and deficits in executive functions (EFs), a set of cognitive abilities that facilitate higher-order thinking, have transdiagnostic associations with psychopathology. Although empirical studies suggest associations between EFs and rumination, this literature has not examined subtypes of rumination and different components of EFs. It also has not examined whether rumination and EFs explain overlapping variance in psychopathology, which is relevant to theoretical models suggesting that rumination might mediate the EF-psychopathology association. METHODS: We used structural equation modeling to examine the association between latent factors for two types of rumination (anger and depressive) and three components of EF (a Common EF factor, and factors specific to updating working memory and shifting mental sets) and whether they independently relate to internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in a population sample of 764 young adults (mean age 23 years) from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study. RESULTS: Depressive and Anger Rumination showed small correlations with a Common EF factor (rs = -.09 to -.11). Anger Rumination and Common EF ability were associated with independent variance in externalizing psychopathology, whereas Depressive Rumination, but not Common EF, was associated with internalizing psychopathology. LIMITATIONS: Examination of cross-sectional relations in a population sample led to low symptom endorsement for psychopathology and necessitated examination of lifetime, rather than past-year, psychopathology. CONCLUSIONS: Inconsistent with mediation hypotheses, Common EF abilities and rumination are correlated yet largely independent constructs that both predict psychopathology.

APOE effects on cognition from childhood to adolescence.

The ε4 allele of APOE is a well-established genetic risk factor for cognitive aging and dementia, but its influence on early life cognition is unknown. Consequently, we assessed associations of APOE genotypes with cognitive performance during 7, 12, and 16 year-assessments in our ongoing Colorado Adoption/Twin Study of Lifespan behavioral development (CATSLife). In general, APOE ε4 was associated with lower Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQ scores during childhood and adolescence (e.g., Full Scale IQ was lower by 1.91 points per ε4 allele, d = -0.13), with larger effects in females (e.g., average Full Scale IQ scores were 3.41 points lower in females per each ε4 allele vs. 0.33 points lower in males). Thus, these results suggest that deleterious effects of the APOE ε4 allele are manifested before adulthood, especially in females, and support both early origin theories and differential life-course vulnerabilities for later cognitive impairment.

Are rumination and neuroticism genetically or environmentally distinct risk factors for psychopathology?

Neuroticism, a dispositional trait of heightened negative emotionality, is a vulnerability factor for psychopathology. Given neuroticism's strong association with rumination, a repetitive thought pattern that intensifies and prolongs emotions, some question whether these constructs capture the same or unique information about vulnerability for psychopathology. The present study examined whether neuroticism is genetically and environmentally distinct from two clinically relevant ruminative subtypes-anger and depressive rumination-and whether genetic and environmental influences specific to rumination versus shared with neuroticism overlap with internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. These analyses were conducted on 439 same-sex twin pairs in the Colorado Longitudinal Twin study. Rumination and neuroticism latent variables were created from multiple rumination questionnaires administered at age 23 and shortened Eysenck Personality Questionnaires administered at ages 17 and 21, respectively. Lifetime psychopathology symptoms, assessed by two structured clinical interviews, were used to create ordinal composite variables. Multivariate Cholesky decompositions indicated that neuroticism, anger rumination, and depressive rumination have common genetic and nonshared environmental influences but are differentiated by nonshared environmental influences specific to each ruminative subtype. Genetic influences common to rumination and neuroticism explained considerable variance in internalizing psychopathology, suggesting possible genetic mediation or common genetic causes. Genetic and environmental influences on externalizing psychopathology did not substantially overlap with those on neuroticism and rumination. These findings suggest that rumination and neuroticism share most genetic influences yet are influenced by distinct environmental influences. Furthermore, our results indicate that a comprehensive understanding of transdiagnostic risk factors must include an examination of both genetic and environmental influences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Childhood language development and later alcohol use behaviors.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown a correlation between language abilities and alcohol use; however, results are inconsistent. A recent study using a discordant twin design showed an association between early child language development and later alcohol use behaviors; i.e., the twin with more advanced language abilities was more likely to try alcohol earlier in adolescence (Latvala et al., 2014). The authors suggested that this could result from better socialization of individuals with greater language abilities, which could lead to more opportunities for alcohol experimentation. The findings by Latvala et al. raise interesting questions, but the study has limitations, and replication is needed. METHOD: We aimed to replicate and build upon these results utilizing 488 same sex twin pairs from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study, a longitudinal sample with quantitative measures of language abilities starting when the twins were 14 months old. RESULTS: We found no significant correlations between a latent measure of child language abilities or measures of general cognitive ability at ages 14, 20, and 24 months and a latent alcohol use variable at ages 17 and 22 years. CONCLUSION: Our results did not replicate the association between early language ability and later alcohol use reported by Latvala et al. Possible reasons for differing results across samples, including varying cultural norms as well as differences in educational attainment, peer influences, and novelty seeking, were discussed.

Perceived family functioning among adolescents with and without loss of control eating.

Youth with loss of control eating (LOC) have poorer social relationships than youth without LOC. However, perceived family functioning among youth reporting LOC is relatively unexplored. We examined perceived family functioning among 990 twins (age = 17.47 ±â€¯0.71 years, 53% female) from the Colorado Center for Antisocial Drug Dependence with (n = 158) and without (n = 832) LOC. LOC was assessed with one binary item. Associations between family functioning and LOC were examined using general linear models that accounted for dependence in twin data. Girls with greater family conflict had higher odds of endorsing LOC (p = .02), but not after accounting for depressive symptoms (p = .26). Further analysis indicated that depressive symptoms mediated the association between LOC and family conflict (p = .04). This finding is consistent with an interpersonal model, which proposes that interpersonal difficulties lead to negative emotional states, which promotes LOC as a method of coping with negative affect. Family cohesion and expressiveness were not associated with LOC in girls, and none of the family functioning variables were associated with LOC in boys (ps > .05). Future studies are needed to clarify these relations and to determine any relevant treatment indications.