Now, a new study from the University of Queensland has identified a genetic predisposition to these conditions.
The team of researchers made this finding after analyzing genetic data of more than 42,000 children from the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the UK. The findings showed that study participants with higher genetic scores for emotional wellbeing and educational achievement were associated with a low risk of childhood emotional and social problems.
The study also found that around 50 percent of children and adolescents with psychiatric problems including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) continue showing symptoms in adulthood, suggesting an underlying genetic vulnerability.
These findings may support precision medicine to provide targeted treatments for children with a genetic predisposition to these emotional and social problems, who have a higher risk of persistent symptoms.
Read original article: https://medicine.uq.edu.au/article/2020/04/genetics-linked-childhood-emotional-social-and-psychiatric-problems
