Genetically informed investigation of the association between childhood adverse experiences and adult psychopathology

The abundant literature on the developmental consequences of adverse childhood experiences, particularly on psychopathology, remains inconclusive. Here, we test the relationship between the latent dimensions accounting for the... [ view full abstract ]

The abundant literature on the developmental consequences of adverse childhood experiences, particularly on psychopathology, remains inconclusive. Here, we test the relationship between the latent dimensions accounting for the comorbidity across childhood adversities, as well as across psychopathological symptoms. Previous findings support a bifactor latent structure of psychopathology in our sample, comprising internalizing, externalizing and body-related factors, in addition to a general “P” dimension. To understand if adverse childhood experiences may determine a general liability to psychopathology, the existence of a latent dimension of childhood distress should also be addressed from a phenotypic and etiological standpoint. We used measures of psychopathology and retrospective accounts of experienced parenting style, childhood abuse and neglect in a sample of 13024 Finnish twins and their siblings (8415 women and 4609 men, age range 18 - 49). Factor analyses suggested the presence of four latent sources of co-variation between childhood adversities: emotional neglect, physical abuse, belittling and insecurity. A biometric model indicated small genetic contribution, moderate shared and moderate-to-high unique environmental influences on these factors. Employing a common pathway model, we plan to test whether the “childhood distress” and the “P” dimensions mediate the genetic and environmental influences on their first-order factors. With direction of causation modeling, we will examine the strength, nature and direction of the association between these dimensions.