Mapping associations of polygenic scores with autistic and ADHD traits in a single city region

Zoe E Reed; Richard Thomas; Andy Boyd; Gareth J Griffith; Tim T Morris; Dheeraj Rai; David Manley; George Davey Smith; Oliver S P Davis

doi:10.1111/jcpp.14047

Mapping associations of polygenic scores with autistic and ADHD traits in a single city region

J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2024 Aug 14:10.1111/jcpp.14047. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.14047. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zoe E Reed^{1

2}, Richard Thomas³, Andy Boyd^{3

4}, Gareth J Griffith^{1

3}, Tim T Morris⁵, Dheeraj Rai^{3

6

7}, David Manley^{8

9}, George Davey Smith^{1

3}, Oliver S P Davis^{1

3

6

10}

Affiliations

¹ MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
² School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
³ Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁴ Department of Population Health Sciences, ALSPAC, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁵ Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK.
⁶ National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁷ Avon and Wiltshire Partnership NHS Mental Health Trust, Bath, UK.
⁸ School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
⁹ Department of Urbanism, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ Alan Turing Institute, London, UK.

Abstract

Background: The genetic and environmental aetiology of autistic and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) traits is known to vary spatially, but does this translate into variation in the association of specific common genetic variants?

Methods: We mapped associations between polygenic scores for autism and ADHD and their respective traits in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N = 4,255-6,165) across the area surrounding Bristol, UK, and compared them to maps of environments associated with the prevalence of autism and ADHD.

Results: Our results suggest genetic associations vary spatially, with consistent patterns for autistic traits across polygenic scores constructed at different p-value thresholds. Patterns for ADHD traits were more variable across thresholds. We found that the spatial distributions often correlated with known environmental influences.

Conclusions: These findings shed light on the factors that contribute to the complex interplay between the environment and genetic influences in autistic and ADHD traits.

Keywords: ADHD; ALSPAC; Autism; polygenic risk score; spatial.

Abstract

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