Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T07:00:26.415Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Developmental changes in genetic and environmental influences on Chinese child and adolescent anxiety and depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2016

Y. Zheng ,
F. Rijsdijk ,
J.-B. Pingault ,
R. J. McMahon  and
J. B. Unger
Y. Zheng*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada Child & Family Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
F. Rijsdijk
Affiliation:
MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK
J.-B. Pingault
Affiliation:
MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, UK
R. J. McMahon
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada Child & Family Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada
J. B. Unger
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: Y. Zheng, RCB 5246, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Twin and family studies using Western samples have established that child and adolescent anxiety and depression are under substantial genetic, modest shared environmental, and substantial non-shared environmental influences. Generalizability of these findings to non-Western societies remains largely unknown, particularly regarding the changes of genetic and environmental influences with age. The current study examined changes in genetic and environmental influences on self-reported anxiety and depression from late childhood to mid-adolescence among a Chinese twin sample. Sex differences were also examined.

Method

Self-reported anxiety and depression were collected from 712 10- to 12-year-old Chinese twins (mean = 10.88 years, 49% males) and again 3 years later. Quantitative genetic modeling was used to examine developmental changes in genetic and environmental influences on anxiety and depression, and sex differences.

Results

Heritability of anxiety and depression in late childhood (23 and 20%) decreased to negligible in mid-adolescence, while shared environmental influences increased (20 and 27% to 57 and 60%). Shared environmental factors explained most of the continuity of anxiety and depression (75 and 77%). Non-shared environmental factors were largely time-specific. No sex differences were observed.

Conclusions

Shared environmental influences might be more pronounced during the transition period of adolescence in non-Western societies such as China. Future research should examine similarities and differences in the genetic and environmental etiologies of child and adolescent internalizing and other psychopathology in development between Western and non-Western societies.

Keywords

Adolescentsanxietydepressiondevelopmentgenetic influencestwins
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 46 , Issue 9 , July 2016 , pp. 1829 - 1838
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angold, A, Costello, EJ (2006). Puberty and depression. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America 15, 919–937.Google Scholar
Angold, A, Costello, EJ, Farmer, EM, Burns, BJ, Erkanli, A (1999). Impaired but undiagnosed. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 38, 129–137.Google Scholar
Bartels, M, van de Aa, N, van Beijsterveldt, CEM, Middeldorp, CM, Boomsma, DI (2011). Adolescent self-report of emotional and behavioral problems: interactions of genetic factors with sex and age. Journal of Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 20, 35–52.Google ScholarPubMed
Bartels, M, van den Oord, EJCG, Hudziak, JJ, Rietveld, MJH, van Beijsterveldt, CEM, Boomsma, DI (2004). Genetic and environmental mechanisms underlying stability and change in problem behaviors at ages 3, 7, 10, and 12. Developmental Psychology 40, 852–867.Google Scholar
Bergen, SE, Gardner, CO, Kendler, KS (2007). Age-related changes in heritability of behavioral phenotypes over adolescence and young adulthood: a meta-analysis. Twin Research and Human Genetics 10, 423–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boker, SM, Neale, MC, Maes, HH, Wilde, MJ, Spiegel, M, Brick, TR, Spies, J, Estabrook, R, Kenny, S, Bates, T, Mehta, P, Fox, J (2011). OpenMx: an open source extended structural equation modeling framework. Psychometrika 76, 306–317.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boomsma, DI, van Beijsterveldt, CEM, Hudziak, JJ (2005). Genetic and environmental influences on anxious/depression during childhood: a study from the Netherlands Twin Register. Genes, Brain and Behavior 4, 466–481.Google Scholar
Burt, SA (2009). Rethinking environmental contributions to child and adolescent psychopathology: a meta-analysis of shared environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin 135, 608–637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X (2010). Socioemotional development in Chinese children. In Handbook of Chinese Psychology (ed. Bond, M. H.), pp. 37–52. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Chen, X (2012). Culture, peer interaction, and socioemotional development. Child Development Perspectives 6, 27–34.Google Scholar
Chen, X, Chen, H (2010). Children's social functioning and adjustment in the changing Chinese society. In Social Change and Human Development: Concepts and Results (ed. Silbereisen, R. K. and Chen, X.), pp. 209–226. Sage: London.Google Scholar
Chen, X, French, D (2008). Children's social competence in cultural context. Annual Review of Psychology 59, 591–616.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, J, Li, X, Natsuaki, MN, Leve, LD, Harold, GT (2014). Genetic and environmental influences on depressive symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Behavior Genetics 44, 36–44.Google Scholar
Chen, J, Yu, J, Li, X, Zhang, J (2015). Genetic and environmental contributions to anxiety among Chinese child and adolescent: a multi-informant twin study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 56, 586–594.Google Scholar
Chen, X, Cen, G, Li, D, He, Y (2005). Social functioning and adjustment in Chinese children: the imprint of historical time. Child Development 76, 182–195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheung, CK, Bagley, C (1998). Validating an American scale in Hong Kong: the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Journal of Psychology 132, 169–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costello, EJ, Egger, HL, Angold, A (2005). The developmental epidemiology of anxiety disorders: phenomenology, prevalence, and comorbidity. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America 14, 631–648.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duan, H, Ning, F, Zhang, D, Wang, S, Zhang, D, Tan, Q, Tian, X, Pang, Z (2012). The Qingdao Twin Registry: a status update. Twin Research and Human Genetics 16, 79–85.Google Scholar
Eaves, LJ, Silberg, JL, Meyer, JM, Maes, HH, Simonoff, E, Pickles, A, Rutter, M, Reynolds, CA, Heath, AC, Truett, KR, Neale, MC, Erikson, MT, Loeber, R, Hewitt, JK (1997). Genetics and developmental psychopathology: 2. The main effects of genes and environment on behavioral problems in the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioral Development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38, 965–980.Google Scholar
Eley, TC, Napolitano, M, Lau, JY, Gregory, AM (2010). Does childhood anxiety evoke maternal control? A genetically informed study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 51, 772–779.Google Scholar
Eley, TC, Stevenson, J (1999). Exploring the covariation between anxiety and depression symptoms: a genetic analysis of the effects of age and sex. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 40, 1273–1282.Google Scholar
Franic, S, Middeldorp, CM, Dolan, CV, Ligthart, L, Boomsma, DI (2010). Childhood and adolescent anxiety and depression: beyond heritability. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 49, 820–829.Google Scholar
Garcia, SE, Tully, EC, Tarantino, N, South, S, Iacono, WG, McGue, M (2013). Changes in genetic and environmental influences on trait anxiety from middle adolescence to early adulthood. Journal of Affective Disorders 151, 46–53.Google Scholar
Gjone, H, Stevenson, J, Sundet, JM, Eilertsen, DE (1996). Changes in heritability across increasing levels of behavior problems in young twins. Behavior Genetics 26, 419–426.Google Scholar
Gregory, AM, Eley, TC (2007). Genetic influences on anxiety in children: what we've learned and where we're heading. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 10, 199–210.Google Scholar
Kendler, KS, Gardner, CO, Lichtenstein, P (2008). A developmental twin study of symptoms of anxiety and depression: evidence for genetic innovation and attenuation. Psychological Medicine 38, 1567–1575.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kuo, PH, Lin, CC, Yang, HJ, Soong, WT, Chen, WJ (2004). A twin study of competence and behavioral/emotional problems among adolescents in Taiwan. Behavior Genetics 34, 63–74.Google Scholar
Lamb, DJ, Middeldorp, CM, van Beijsterveldt, CEM, Bartels, M, van der Aa, N, Polderman, TJC, Boomsma, DI (2010). Heritability of anxious–depressive and withdrawn behavior: age-related changes during adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 49, 248–255.Google Scholar
Lau, JY, Eley, TC, Stevenson, J (2006). Examining the state–trait anxiety relationship: a behavioural genetic approach. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 34, 18–26.Google Scholar
Lau, JY, Gregory, AM, Goldwin, MA, Pine, DS, Eley, TC (2007). Assessing gene–environment interactions on anxiety symptom subtypes across childhood and adolescence. Development and Psychopathology 19, 1129–1146.Google Scholar
Lau, JYF, Eley, TC (2006). Change in genetic and environmental influences on depressive symptoms across adolescence and young adulthood. British Journal of Psychiatry 189, 422–427.Google Scholar
Legrand, LN, McGue, M, Iacono, WG (1999). A twin study of state and trait anxiety in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 40, 953–958.Google Scholar
Li, M, Chen, J, Li, X, Deater-Deckard, K (2015). Moderation of harsh parenting on genetic and environmental contributions to child and adolescent deviant peer affiliation: a longitudinal twin study. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 44, 1396–1412.Google Scholar
Liu, XC, Ma, DD, Kurita, H, Tang, MQ (1999). Self-reported depressive symptoms among Chinese adolescents. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 34, 44–47.Google Scholar
McGue, M, Bouchard, TJ (1984). Adjustment of twin data for the effects of age and sex. Behavior Genetics 14, 325–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neale, MC, Roysamb, E, Jacobson, K (2006). Multivariate genetic analysis of sex limitation and G × E interaction. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 481–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nivard, MG, Dolan, CV, Kendler, KS, Kan, KJ, Willemsen, G, van Beijsterveldt, CEM, Lindauer, RJL, van Beek, JHDA, Geels, LM, Bartels, M, Middeldorp, CM, Boomsma, DI (2015). Stability in symptoms of anxiety and depression as a function of genotype and environment: a longitudinal twin study from ages 3 to 63 years. Psychological Medicine 45, 1039–1049.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connor, TG, Neiderhiser, JM, Reiss, D, Hetherington, EM, Plomin, R (1998). Genetic contributions to continuity, change, and co-occurrence of antisocial and depressive symptoms in adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 39, 323–336.Google Scholar
Pang, Z, Ning, F, Unger, J, Johnson, CA, Wang, S, Guo, Q, Cao, W, Lee, L (2006). The Qingdao Twin Registry: a focus on chronic disease research. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 758–762.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peyrot, WJ, Milaneschi, Y, Abdellaoui, A, Sullivan, PF, Hottenga, JJ, Boomsma, DI, Penninx, BW (2014). Effect of polygenic risk scores on depression in childhood trauma. British Journal of Psychiatry 205, 113–119.Google Scholar
Radloff, LS (1977). The CES-D Scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement 1, 385–401.Google Scholar
Rice, F, Harold, GT, Thapar, A (2002 a). Assessing the effects of age, sex and shared environment on the genetic aetiology of depression in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 43, 1039–1051.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rice, F, Harold, GT, Thapar, A (2002 b). The genetic aetiology of childhood depression: a review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 43, 65–79.Google Scholar
Scourfield, J, Rice, F, Thapar, A, Harold, GT, Martin, N, McGuffin, P (2003). Depressive symptoms in children and adolescents: changing aetiological influences with development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 44, 968–976.Google Scholar
Tepper, P, Liu, X, Guo, C, Zhai, J, Liu, T, Li, C (2008). Depressive symptoms in Chinese children and adolescents: parent, teacher, and self reports. Journal of Affective Disorders 111, 291–298.Google Scholar
Topolski, TD, Hewitt, JK, Eaves, LJ, Meyer, JM, Silberg, JL, Simonoff, E, Rutter, M (1999). Genetic and environmental influences on ratings of manifest anxiety by parents and children. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 13, 371–397.Google Scholar
Topolski, TD, Hewitt, JK, Eaves, LJ, Silberg, JL, Meyer, JM, Rutter, M, Pickles, A, Simonoff, E (1997). Genetic and environmental influences on child reports of manifest anxiety and symptoms of separation anxiety and overanxious disorders: a community-based twin study. Behavior Genetics 27, 15–28.Google Scholar
Unger, JB, Lessov-Schlaggar, CN, Pang, Z, Guo, Q, Ning, F, Gallaher, P, Lee, L, Cao, W, Conti, D, Johnson, CA (2011). Heritability of smoking, alcohol use, and psychological characteristics among adolescent twins in Qingdao, China. Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health 23, 568–580.Google Scholar
Van der Valk, JC, van den Oord, EJCG, Verhulst, FC, Boomsma, DI (2003). Genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change in children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 42, 1212–1220.Google Scholar
Wang, Z (1984). Chinese version of Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale. Shanghai Archive of Psychiatry 2, 73–74.Google Scholar
Waszczuk, MA, Zavos, HMS, Gregory, AM, Eley, TC (2014). The phenotypic and genetic structure of depression and anxiety disorder symptoms in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. JAMA Psychiatry 71, 905–916.Google Scholar
Waszczuk, MA, Zavos, HMS, Gregory, AM, Eley, TC (2016). The stability and change of etiological influences on depression, anxiety symptoms and their co-occurrence across adolescence and young adulthood. Psychological Medicine 46, 161–175.Google Scholar
Xin, Z, Zhang, L, Liu, D (2010). Birth cohort changes of Chinese adolescents’ anxiety: a cross-temporal meta-analysis, 1992–2005. Personality and Individual Differences 48, 208–212.Google Scholar
Yen, S, Robins, CJ, Lin, N (2000). A cross-cultural comparison of depressive symptom manifestation: China and the United States. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68, 993–999.Google Scholar
Zavos, HMS, Rijsdijk, FV, Eley, TC (2012). A longitudinal, genetically informative, study of associations between anxiety sensitivity, anxiety and depression. Behavior Genetics 42, 592–602.Google Scholar
Zung, WWK (1971). A rating instrument for anxiety disorders. Psychosomatics 12, 371–379.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Zheng supplementary material

Zheng supplementary material

Download Zheng supplementary material(File)
File 43 KB