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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. ADHD
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1439474
This article is part of the Research Topic ADHD and Anxiety: Causality Sequences Through a Biopsychosocial Model View all articles

Exploring the Genetic and Socioeconomic Interplay between ADHD and Anxiety Disorders Using Mendelian Randomization

Provisionally accepted
Xiaojuan Deng Xiaojuan Deng 1Hongyan Ren Hongyan Ren 1*Shuang Wu Shuang Wu 1*Huijin Jie Huijin Jie 2*Chengyu Gu Chengyu Gu 2*
  • 1 Mental Health Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
  • 2 Haining Fourth People's Hospital, Haining, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: ADHD and anxiety disorders often co-occur, sharing symptoms and dysfunctions, yet the underlying mechanisms remain elusive.To explore the shared and distinct genetic variations between ADHD and anxiety disorders, we applied Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to ADHD, anxiety disorders, and three socioeconomic factors: income, educational attainment (EA), and intelligence. MR analysis utilized genome-wide association study summary datasets (anxiety disorder: 7,016 cases and 14,745 controls; ADHD: 38,691 cases and 275,986 controls; EA: 766,345 participants; intelligence: 146,808 participants; household income: 392,422 participants), with inverse-variance weighting as the primary method.Results: Our MR analysis revealed no discernible genetic-level causal effect between ADHD and anxiety disorders (p > 0.77). Additionally, the independent variables for ADHD (25 SNPs) and anxiety disorders (18 SNPs) did not overlap, highlighting the genetic distinction between the two conditions. Higher income (p < 0.002) and EA (p < 0.005) were found to serve as protective factors for both ADHD and anxiety disorders. Genetic predisposition to higher income (86 SNPs) and EA (457 SNPs) were identified as a potential common protective factors for both conditions. Lastly, genetic predisposition to higher intelligence was found to potentially guard against ADHD (p < 0.001) but not against anxiety disorders (p > 0.55).Our findings indicate that the shared symptoms observed between ADHD and anxiety disorders are more likely influenced by genetic predispositions related to socioeconomic factors rather than by the genetic predispositions specific to the disorders themselves.

    Keywords: ADHD, Anxiety Disorders, Mendelian randomization, Income, Educational attainment, Intelligence

    Received: 28 May 2024; Accepted: 12 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Deng, Ren, Wu, Jie and Gu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Hongyan Ren, Mental Health Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
    Shuang Wu, Mental Health Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
    Huijin Jie, Haining Fourth People's Hospital, Haining, China
    Chengyu Gu, Haining Fourth People's Hospital, Haining, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.