Many people carry the symptoms of anxiety or depression from childhood to adulthood. That, according to a study from the University of Queensland (Australia), could be due to a recently discovered genetic link between these childhood mental disorders and their persistence in adulthood.
Specifically, the study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry has found that although it was known that hereditary factors could be partly the cause of the appearance of depression and anxiety in childhood, genetics could also interfere. how these symptoms continue over the years.
It was already known from previous studies that the development of anxiety and depression depend approximately 40% on the genetics of the person (family history), although the environmental factors that surround it are still important, such as the school in which they live. education or family life in childhood, which represents around the remaining 60%.
This meta-analysis has become the largest of its kind to date, analyzing the entire genome of 64,641 children between the ages of 3 and 18 using data from the Early Genetics and Lifeforce Epidemiology consortium and relating it to cases of anxiety and depression in adulthood. The estimated rates of anxiety and depression in the world are 15% of the population, and in children these cases could be around between 2% and 3% of childhood depression and between 6% and 7% of anxiety in childhood and adolescence.
More risk of ADHD and aggressive behaviors
The results of the analysis revealed that there was a genetic overlap between psychological disorders in childhood and in adulthood when comparing these results with previous ones in adults. The children who showed similar levels of anxiety and depression at the time of the study were also genetically similar.
Strong genetic correlations were found with outward traits, such as aggressiveness, suggesting that internalizing symptoms in childhood and adolescence might share substantial genetic vulnerabilities with adult internalizing disorders, such as fear or sadness, and other traits. childhood psychiatric. This would explain in part why the internalizing symptoms continue over time and the high comorbidity that children suffer.
Having depression or anxiety in childhood predisposes to ADHD or to developing aggressive behavior towards others
And it is that, it was observed that those who experience anxiety or depression used to be more likely to end up developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or aggressive behavior towards others. According to the study, “comparisons with other adult psychiatric disorders showed high genetic correlations with childhood-onset disorders such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but no strong associations with bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or anorexia nervosa.” ”. This could be due, according to the researchers to genetic variants.
“People with an anxiety disorder reflect on their situation, which prevents them from moving on. There is a difference in how people respond to stressors, and part of that difference is genetic,” says Christel Middeldorp, lead author of the study. These findings are important because they help identify people who are most at risk of psychological symptoms continuing throughout life, so intense, personalized treatment can be provided where needed, she explained.
Now, the researchers intend to continue investigating more about this link found, specifically they want to know how genetics and environmental variables interact in order to observe the way in which together they come to influence childhood depression and anxiety, which ends up persisting in most cases until adulthood.
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