Relationship between polygenic risk scores for various psychiatric disorders and clinical and neuropsychological characteristics in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Zhao-Min WU, Peng WANG, Chao DONG, Xiao-Lan CAO, Lan-Fang HU, Cong KOU, Jia-Jing JIANG, Lin-Lin ZHANG, Li YANG, Yu-Feng WANG, Ying LI, Bin-Rang YANG

Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics ›› 2025, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (9) : 1089-1097.

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Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics ›› 2025, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (9) : 1089-1097. DOI: 10.7499/j.issn.1008-8830.2502097
CLINICAL RESEARCH

Relationship between polygenic risk scores for various psychiatric disorders and clinical and neuropsychological characteristics in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

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Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship between the polygenic risks for various psychiatric disorders and clinical and neuropsychological characteristics in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Methods Using a cross-sectional design, 285 children with ADHD and 107 healthy controls were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function for parents, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition, and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Blood samples were collected for genetic data. Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for various psychiatric disorders were calculated using the PRSice-2 software. Results Compared with the healthy controls, the children with ADHD displayed significantly higher PRSs for ADHD, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (P<0.05). In terms of daily-life executive function, ADHD-related PRS was significantly correlated with the working memory factor; panic disorder-related PRS was significantly correlated with the initiation factor; bipolar disorder-related PRS was significantly correlated with the shift factor; schizophrenia-related PRS was significantly correlated with the inhibition, emotional control, initiation, working memory, planning, organization, and monitoring factors (P<0.05). The PRS related to anxiety disorders was negatively correlated with total IQ and processing speed index (P<0.05). The PRS related to obsessive-compulsive disorder was negatively correlated with the processing speed index and positively correlated with the stop-signal reaction time index of the stop-signal task (P<0.05). Conclusions PRSs for various psychiatric disorders are closely correlated with the behavioral and cognitive characteristics in children with ADHD, which provides more insights into the heterogeneity of ADHD.

Key words

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Polygenic risk score / Psychiatric disorder / Behavior / Cognitive function / Child

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Zhao-Min WU , Peng WANG , Chao DONG , et al . Relationship between polygenic risk scores for various psychiatric disorders and clinical and neuropsychological characteristics in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder[J]. Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics. 2025, 27(9): 1089-1097 https://doi.org/10.7499/j.issn.1008-8830.2502097

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所有作者均声明无利益冲突。

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