Table 4 Detailed characteristics of studies investigating offspring externalising behaviours (N = 36).
Offspring externalising behaviours | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Study | Design | Sample | Parental attribute (predictor) | Child attribute (outcome) | Control variables | Genetic overlap | Environmental transmission | G–E interplay |
Bornovalova et al.53 | Adoption | SIBS 402 adoptive, 204 biological families Age: 11–21 years | Antisociality: interview, SCI | Maladaptive parenting: self-report, PEQ Marital discord: self-report or marital status, MRS Antisociality: interview, SCI | Mother and father age, parental education, child ethnicity, child adoptive status, family-based clustering correction, child sex, age | Not studied | Adoptive maladaptive parenting and marital discord (but not antisociality) were associated with offspring disruptive behaviours | Parental antisociality & child disruptive behaviour disorders were associated in biological families, but not adoptive families. The authors interpret this as passive rGE, but it may be only indicative of genetic overlap |
Kendler et al.54 | Adoption | Snr 18,070 adoptees, and their biological (79,206) and adoptive (47,311) relatives Age: adoption until 20 years old | Adoptive parental/sibling criminal behaviour risk: composite score, criminal behaviour, alcohol use disorder (AUD), drug abuse, psychiatric illness, parental divorce Biological parent/sibling criminal behaviour risk: composite score, criminal behaviour, AUD, drug abuse, psychiatric illness, parental educational attainment (EA), maternal divorce, age at birth | Criminal behaviour: register-based, any conviction | Sex of the adoptee, birth year, age at first cohabitation with adoptive parents | The criminal behaviour of not-lived-with biological parent and siblings was associated with offspring criminal behaviour (OR = 1.5) | The criminal behaviour of adoptive family and siblings was associated with offspring criminal behaviour (OR range = 1.3–1.4) | No evidence of G × E interaction found |
Lipscomb et al.48 | Adoption | EGDS 233 families Age: 9 months to 6 years | Adoptive parent over-reactive parenting: self-report, PS Birth parent self-regulation: self-report, ATQ | Externalising behaviour: parent report, CBCL | Prenatal and obstetric complications, birth mother IQ, adoptive family SES, adoption openness, child age, sex, age of entry & time spent in early care | No, birth parent self-regulation did not predict offspring externalising behaviours | Yes, over-reactive adoptive parenting was associated with externalising behaviours (β = 0.14) | G×E: low birth parent self-regulation & exposure to early care-centre × over-reactive parenting: more externalising problems |
Kendler et al.55 | Multiple parenting relationships design | Snr 2,111,074 intact, 155,121 not-lived-with father, 10,194 not-lived-with mother, 107,163 stepfather, 17,637 stepmother, 10,038 adoptive families Age: 15+ | Criminal behaviour: Swedish Crime register | Criminal behaviour: Swedish Crime register | Criminal behaviour status of all other relevant biological and step-parents | Yes, criminal behaviour of not-lived-with biological parents was correlated with offspring criminal behaviour (HR = 1.56) | Yes, criminal behaviour of adoptive or step-parent was correlated with offspring criminal behaviour (HR = 1.28) | |
Kendler et al.8 | Triparental family design | Snr 41,360 triparental families (mother, not-lived-with biological father, stepfather) Age: 15+ | Criminal behaviour: Swedish Crime register | Criminal behaviour: Swedish Crime register | Yes, criminal behaviour of not-lived-with biological parents was correlated with offspring criminal behaviour (HR = 1.46) | Yes, criminal behaviour of adoptive or step-parent was correlated with offspring criminal behaviour (HR = 1.30) | ||
Hyde et al.52 | Adoption | EGDS 561 families Age: 18–27 months | Adoptive mother positive reinforcement: observation Birth mother antisocial behaviour: self-report, DIS | Externalising behaviours: maternal report, CBCL Callous - unemotional behaviours Oppositional behaviours Attention-deficit behaviours | Child sex, openness/contact in the adoption, perinatal risk index | Birth mother antisocial behaviour predicted offspring callous–unemotional behaviours (β = 0.16), but not oppositional or attention-deficit behaviours | Adoptive mother positive reinforcement was protective against callous–unemotional (β = −0.19) and oppositional (β = −0.15), but not attention-deficit behaviours | G × E: high birth mother antisociality × low adoptive mother positive reinforcement: callous–unemotional behaviours |
Stover et al.49 | Adoption | EGDS 361 families Age: 9 months to 6 years | Marital hostility: self & spouse-report, BARS Hostile parenting: self-report, IFIRS Birth mother antisociality: self-report, composite score, delinquency (EYQ), substance use (CIDI), antisocial behaviour (CDIS) | Aggression: parent report, CBCL | Adoption openness | No, birth mother antisociality was not associated with offspring aggression | Adoptive parent hostile parenting and marital hostility were associated with offspring aggression (β range = −0.5 to 0.09) | |
Reuben et al.50 | Adoption | EGDS 361 families Age: 26 months to 7 years | Warm parenting: self-report, IFIRS Over-reactive parenting: self-report, PS Birth mother externalising problems: self-report, composite score, delinquency (ESBQ), novelty seeking (TCI) and drug dependence | Externalising behaviour: teacher-report, TRF Effortful control: shape Stroop task and gift delay task, the composite score | Prenatal risk and obstetric complications, adoption openness, birth mother externalising problems, child sex | No, birth mother externalising problems did not predict offspring externalising behaviour or effortful control | Adoptive maternal warm parenting (but not paternal, or over-reactive parenting) was associated with offspring externalising behaviours (β = −0.18), and this association was moderated by offspring effortful control | |
Marceau et al.51 | Adoption | EGDS 561 families Age: 4.5–8 years | Adoptive parent warmth and hostility: self-report, IWHS Birth mother substance use during pregnancy: study design cannot distinguish G and E effects Birth mother internalising & externalising problems: composite score, number of symptoms, diagnoses, age of onset, first degree relatives with psychopathology | Conduct problems: maternal report, Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment | Adoption openness, child sex and earlier externalising problems | Birth mother externalising and internalising problems were associated with fewer conduct problems in boys (β range = −0.09 to −0.15) but not girls | Adoptive parent warmth and hostility were not associated with offspring conduct problems after controlling for earlier externalising problems | G × E: birth mother externalising problems × adoptive parent warmth and hostility (boys only) |
Marceau et al.41 | Adoption | EGDS 361 families Age: 9 months to 6 years | Over-reactive parenting: self-report, PS Birth mother risk: self-report, composite score, substance use, depression (BDI) and anxiety (BAI) | Externalising behaviours: parent report, CBCL | Adoption openness | No, birth mother risk did not predict offspring externalising behaviours (effect size not clear) | Yes, maternal (but not paternal) over-reactive parenting predicted offspring internalising behaviours (effect size not clear) | |
McAdams et al.19 | Adoption, children-of-twins | Adoption: EGDS 361 families Age: 4.5–7 years CoT: TOSS 287 MZ and 489 DZ twin families Age: 11–22 years | Adoptive & birth parent depression: self-report, BDI Depressive symptoms (CoT sample): self-report, CES-D | Externalising problems (adoption sample): parent report, CBCL Externalising problems (CoT sample): mother, father and self-report, CBCL | Adoption sample: Obstetric complications, adoption openness CoT sample: twin sex, age | Adoption sample: Birth mother depressive symptoms predicted externalising problems at age 4.5 and 7 (β range = 0.13–0.16), but not age 6 CoT sample: No shared genetic effects between parental depression and offspring externalising problems | Adoption sample: No, adoptive parent depression did not predict subsequent offspring externalising problems CoT sample: Yes, after accounting for genetic relatedness, parental depression was associated with offspring externalising problems (effect size not clear) | Evocative rGE: birth mother depression predicted child externalising problems, which predicted adoptive parent depression |
Roos et al.57 | Adoption | EGDS 293 families Age: 6–7 years | Adoptive & birth mother internalising symptoms: self-report, composite score, BAI and BDI Adoptive mother uninvolved parenting: self-report, APQ Adoptive & birth mother processing speed: Stroop colour-word naming task | Externalising-only problems: parent report, CBCL Co-occurring internalising and externalising problems: parent report, CBCL | Child sex, child age, adoption openness, obstetric complications | Birth mother internalising symptoms and processing speed did not predict externalising-only symptoms, but maternal processing speed was associated with co-occurring symptoms (OR = 1.88) | Adoptive parent internalising symptoms, uninvolved parenting, and processing speed did not predict externalising-only problems, but uninvolved parenting was associated with co-occurring symptoms (OR = 7.91) | G × E: adoptive mother high internalising symptoms x inherited risk of slow processing speed: co-occurring symptoms |
Grabow et al.20 | Adoption | EGDS, EPoCH 541 adoptive mother–child pairs, 126 biological mother-biological child pairs Age: 7 years | Maternal trauma frequency: repeated self-report, mean score, NLES Adoptive & birth mother depressive symptoms: self-report, BDI | Externalising behaviours: parent report, CBCL, age 7 | EPoCH: timing of maternal trauma, SES, child sex EGDS: Perinatal risk, adoption openness, SES, child sex | Yes, birth mother depression predicted adopted-away offspring externalising behaviours (β = 0.22) | Adopted mother depression predicted offspring externalising behaviours (β = 0.40), and mediated the relationship between maternal trauma and offspring externalising behaviours | |
Gjerde et al.24 | Sibling comparison | MoBa 11,599 families with 17,830 full siblings Age: 6 months to 5 years | Maternal depression: self-report, SCL | Externalising problems: maternal report, CBCL | Maternal parity, maternal EA, child age, child sex | Not studied | Children exposed to concurrent maternal depression had more externalising symptoms than their unexposed siblings, but perinatal maternal symptoms had no effect | |
Hannigan et al.21 | Multiple children-of-twins and siblings | MoBa 22,195 mothers and 25,299 children Age: 18–60 months | Maternal depressive symptoms: self-report, SCL | Externalising problems: maternal report, CBCL | Prenatal analyses: adjusted for concurrent depression | Yes, shared genetic effects between maternal depression and offspring externalising problems explained 37% of the variance (R2) in offspring externalising problems | No, after accounting for genetic relatedness, maternal depression was not associated with offspring externalising problems | |
Gjerde et al.22 | Multiple children-of-twins and siblings | MoBa 22,316 mothers and 35,589 offspring Age: 1.5 to 5 years | Concurrent maternal depression symptoms: self-report, SCL | Behavioural problems: maternal report, CBCL | Child sex, maternal age | Yes, there were shared genetic effects between maternal depression and offspring behavioural problems (R2 = 14.2–29.3%) | Yes, after accounting for genetic relatedness, maternal depression was associated with offspring behavioural problems (R2 = 0.4–1.3%) | |
Hails et al.25 | Adoption | EGDS 561 families Age: 9 months to 6 years | Adoptive parent depression: self-report, BDI-II Birth mother internalising symptoms: self-report, CIDI | Externalising symptoms: parent and teacher report, CBCL and TRF | Adoption openness, prenatal risk and obstetric complications, infant negative emotionality | Yes, the birth mother’s internalising symptoms predicted parent (but not teacher) rated offspring externalising symptoms (β = 0.11) | Adoptive maternal (but not paternal) depression predicted offspring externalising symptoms (β = 0.11) | |
Eilertsen et al.56 | Children-of-twins and siblings | MoBa 17,070 extended-family units Age: 5 years | Parental prenatal depression symptoms: self-reported at pregnancy week 30 for mothers, week 17 for fathers, Symptom Checklist | ADHD symptoms: maternal report, CPRS | Yes, there were shared genetic effects between parental depression and offspring ADHD symptoms (β = 0.42) | After accounting for genetic relatedness, maternal (but not paternal) prenatal depression was associated with offspring ADHD symptoms (β = 0.07) | ||
Gjerde et al.31 | Sibling comparison | MoBa 17,724 offspring and 11,553 mothers Age: 1.5–5 years | Maternal anxiety symptoms: self-report, SCL | Externalising problems: maternal report, CBCL | Child age, sex, maternal depressive symptoms, parity and education | Not studied | No difference in externalising problems between exposed children and their unexposed siblings | |
Samek et al.64 | Adoption | SIBS 525 adopted and 323 biological offspring Age: 16.5 years and older | Parent–child relationship quality: offspring report, PEQ Alcohol and tobacco use: mother & father report, composite score, SAM and CSUA | Externalising behaviours: latent factor based on antisocial behaviour (self-report, SCI), risky sexual behaviour (self-report, LEI) & alcohol and tobacco use (self-report, SAM) | Child age, sex, ethnicity, SES | Not studied | Adoptive parent relationship quality with child (but not alcohol and tobacco use) was associated with offspring externalising behaviours | The study states that it provides evidence against passive rGE, but in fact the adoption-at-birth design excludes passive rGE |
Elam et al.61 | Adoption | EGDS 316 families Age: 27 months to 4.5 years | Adoptive parent hostility: self-report, IFIRS | Disruptive peer behaviour: parent report, PIPPS | Prenatal risk and obstetric complications, adoption openness | Not studied | Adoptive mother–child and father–child hostility predicted offspring disruptive peer behaviours | Evocative rGE: birth mother low behavioural motivation predicted toddler low social motivation, which predicted adoptive parent–child hostility |
Marceau et al.59 | Extended children-of-twins | NEAD, TOSS 408 twin/sibling pairs, 854 twin families Age: 11–22 years | Parental knowledge: mother, father and self-report, composite score, CMS | Externalising problems: mother, father, and self-report, composite score, ZBPI (NEAD sample), CBCL (TOSS sample) | Age, sex, age difference between non-twin siblings and cousins | No, there were no shared genetic effects between parental knowledge and offspring externalising problems | Yes, after accounting for genetic relatedness, parental knowledge was associated with offspring externalising problems (effect size not clear) | No passive or evocative rGE found |
Guimond et al.65 | Sibling comparison | QNTS 164 twin pairs Age: 13–14 years | Perceived maternal support and negativity: child report, NRI | Delinquent behaviours: self-report, S-RDQ | Genetically controlled analyses using MZ twin-difference score | Not studied | No, perceived maternal support and negativity were not associated with offspring delinquent behaviours | No evocative rGE, but child-to-parent effects found |
Plamondon et al.62 | Sibling comparison | KFP 397 families, 920 children Age: 1.5–4 years | Maternal negativity: self-report, NLSCY | Child disruptive behaviour: mother and father report, mean score, OCHS | Maternal EA, child sex and child age | Not studied | Exposed children showed more disruptive behaviours than their unexposed sibling | |
Trentacosta et al.60 | Adoption | EGDS 561 families Age: 18 months to 4.5 years | Adoptive parent harsh parenting: self-report, PS Inherited risk: self-report, birth mother fearlessness (BISS) and interpersonal affiliation (HAS-PP) | Callous– unemotional behaviours: parent report, CBCL | Pregnancy and obstetric complications, adoption openness, child gender, oppositional behaviour | No difference in callous–unemotional behaviours in children with high or low inherited risk | Adoptive parent harsh parenting was associated with callous–unemotional behaviours at 54, but not at 27 months (β range = 0.12–0.15) | G × E: high inherited risk (high birth mother fearlessness and low affiliation) × adoptive father harsh parenting: callous–unemotional behaviours |
Ellingson et al.71 | Sibling comparison | CNLSY 10,251 children of 4,827 mothers Age: 4–14 years | Smoking during pregnancy: self-report, mean number of packs smoked per day | Disruptive behaviour: maternal report, BPI | Maternal age at birth, EA, intelligence, delinquency, offspring sex, birth order, ethnicity, household income, geographic location | Not studied | No difference in disruptive behaviours between exposed children and their unexposed siblings | |
Kuja-Halkola et al.67 | Sibling comparison, children-of-twins | Snr 2,754,626 children Age: up to 20 years | Maternal smoking during pregnancy: self-report | Criminality: national crime register, any conviction | Maternal age at childbirth, child sex, birth year | Yes, there were shared genetic effects between maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring criminality (effect size not clear) | No, exposed children did not differ from their unexposed siblings, and after accounting for genetic relatedness, maternal smoking was not associated with offspring criminality | |
Kendler et al.66 | Adoption | Snr 1010 intact, 9944 triparental, 56,906 not-lived-with father, 6141 not-lived-with mother, 25,027 stepfather, 5049 stepmother, 837 adoptive families Age: not reported | Drug abuse: Swedish medical registers, the Suspicion Register, the Crime Register, drug-related driving offenses, and the Prescribed Drug Register | ADHD: Hospital Discharge Register, the Outpatient Care Register, and the Prescribed Drug Register | Yes, birth parent drug abuse was associated with offspring ADHD (HR range = 2.06–2.48) | No, adoptive or step-parent drug abuse was not associated with offspring ADHD | ||
Obel et al.73 | Sibling comparison | DNR Families of 17,381 children with ADHD Age: 3 years to diagnosis | Maternal smoking during pregnancy: self-report | ADHD: diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorder, or prescription of ADHD medication for at least 6 months | Maternal age, parity, child sex, year of birth | Not studied | No difference in ADHD diagnosis between exposed or unexposed siblings | |
Knopik et al.72 | Sibling comparison | MO-MATCH study 173 mothers and their offspring Age: 10–12 years | Smoking during pregnancy: maternal report, MAGIC-PC | ADHD symptoms: parent and teacher-report, CRS | Maternal marital status at birth, food stamp usage at delivery, exposure to paternal smoking during pregnancy, childbirth order, sex | Not studied | Exposed children had more parent-reported (but not teacher-reported) ADHD symptoms than their unexposed siblings | |
Estabrook et al.70 | Sibling comparison | MIDS 299 families Age: 3–18 years | Maternal smoking during pregnancy: self-report | ADHD: SBSC Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD): SBSC Conduct Disorder (CD): SBSC | Offspring age, sex, parental history of antisocial behaviour (Antisocial Behaviour Questionnaire) | Not studied | Exposed children were more likely to show oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder (but not ADHD) than their unexposed siblings | |
Eilertsen et al.74 | Sibling comparison | MoBa 16,407 mothers and 34,283 children Age: 5 years | Maternal alcohol use during pregnancy: AUDIT-C | ADHD symptoms: maternal report, revised CRS and CBCL ADHD diagnosis: diagnosis | Parental EA, parental income, maternal smoking during pregnancy, children’s birth order, gender | Not studied | Exposed children had more ADHD symptoms (according to CPGS-R, but not CBCL) than their unexposed siblings, but did not differ in ADHD diagnosis | |
Lund et al.47 | Sibling comparison | MoBa 14,639 mothers, 25,744 children Age: 1.5–5 years | Maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy: self-report, AUDIT-C | Behavioural problems: maternal report, CBCL Attention problems Aggressive behaviours | Parity, unplanned pregnancy, daily smoking, pre-pregnancy abstinence from alcohol | Not studied | Exposed children were more aggressive, but did not have more attentional problems, than their unexposed sibling | |
Pingault et al.13 | Within-family PGS: genetic sensitivity analysis | TEDS 3663 to 4693 individuals Age: 8–16 years | Maternal EA: self-report, eight levels | ADHD: maternal, report, mean score, CRS-Revised | Sex, age and ten principal components of ancestry, PGS for EA and ADHD | Yes, the association between maternal EA and offspring ADHD decreased after adjusting for EA and ADHD PGS (from β = −0.13 to β = −0.11) | Under a twin-heritability scenario, the association between maternal EA and offspring ADHD was expected to be null if EA and ADHD PGS captured all heritability | |
Torvik et al.45 | Children-of-twins and siblings | MoBa 34,958 children Age: 8 years | Educational attainment: self-report, highest level completed | ADHD symptoms: maternal report, RSDBDs | Yes, there were shared genetic effects between parental EA and offspring ADHD symptoms (effect size not clear) | Yes, after accounting for genetic relatedness, parental EA was associated with offspring ADHD (effect size not clear) | ||
de Zeeuw et al.75 | Within-family PGS: genetic nurture (transmitted/non-transmitted method) | NTR 5900 offspring, 2649 families Age: 10–12, 25–64 years | Genetic transmission: effect of transmitted alleles PGS for EA and ADHD Genetic nurture: effect of non-transmitted alleles PGS for EA and ADHD | ADHD symptoms: parent and teacher report, at-home and at-school symptoms, CBCL and TRF | Sex, year of birth (for EA), the interaction between sex and year of birth (for EA), ten principal components, genotyping platform | EA and ADHD PGS based on transmitted parental alleles were associated with offspring ADHD symptoms at home and at school (R2 = 0.8–2%) | EA and ADHD PGS based on non-transmitted parental alleles were not associated with offspring ADHD symptoms at home and at school | |
