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Targeted Estimation of the Relationship Between Childhood Adversity and Fluid Intelligence in a US Population Sample of Adolescents.

ABSTRACT: Many studies have shown inverse associations between childhood adversity and intelligence, although most are based on small clinical samples and fail to account for the effects of multiple co-occurring adversities. Using data from the 2001-2004 National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement, a cross-sectional US population study of adolescents aged 13-18 years (n = 10,073), we examined the associations between 11 childhood adversities and intelligence, using targeted maximum likelihood estimation. Targeted maximum likelihood estimation incorporates machine learning to identify the relationships between exposures and outcomes without overfitting, including interactions and nonlinearity. The nonverbal score from the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test was used as a standardized measure of fluid reasoning. Childhood adversities were grouped into deprivation and threat types based on recent conceptual models. Adjusted marginal mean differences compared the mean intelligence score if all adolescents experienced each adversity to the mean in the absence of the adversity. The largest associations were observed for deprivation-type experiences, including poverty and low parental education, which were related to reduced intelligence. Although lower in magnitude, threat events related to intelligence included physical abuse and witnessing domestic violence. Violence prevention and poverty-reduction measures would likely improve childhood cognitive outcomes.

SUBMITTER: Platt JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6031033 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Targeted Estimation of the Relationship Between Childhood Adversity and Fluid Intelligence in a US Population Sample of Adolescents.

Platt Jonathan M JM McLaughlin Katie A KA Luedtke Alex R AR Ahern Jennifer J Kaufman Alan S AS Keyes Katherine M KM

American journal of epidemiology 20180701 7

Many studies have shown inverse associations between childhood adversity and intelligence, although most are based on small clinical samples and fail to account for the effects of multiple co-occurring adversities. Using data from the 2001-2004 National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement, a cross-sectional US population study of adolescents aged 13-18 years (n = 10,073), we examined the associations between 11 childhood adversities and intelligence, using targeted maximum likelihood estima ...[more]

PMID: 29982374

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Project description:Importance:Despite long-standing interest in the association of psychiatric disorders with intelligence, few population-based studies of psychiatric disorders have assessed intelligence. Objective:To investigate the association of fluid intelligence with past-year and lifetime psychiatric disorders, disorder age at onset, and disorder severity in a nationally representative sample of US adolescents. Design, Setting, and Participants:National sample of adolescents ascertained from schools and households from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication-Adolescent Supplement, collected 2001 through 2004. Face-to-face household interviews with adolescents and questionnaires from parents were obtained. The data were analyzed from February to December 2016. DSM-IV mental disorders were assessed with the World Health Organization Composite International Diagnostic Interview, and included a broad range of fear, distress, behavior, substance use, and other disorders. Disorder severity was measured with the Sheehan Disability Scale. Main Outcomes and Measures:Fluid IQ measured with the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, normed within the sample by 6-month age groups. Results:The sample included 10?073 adolescents (mean [SD] age, 15.2 [1.50] years; 49.0% female) with valid data on fluid intelligence. Lower mean (SE) IQ was observed among adolescents with past-year bipolar disorder (94.2 [1.69]; P?=?.004), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (96.3 [0.91]; P?=?.002), oppositional defiant disorder (97.3 [0.66]; P?=?.007), conduct disorder (97.1 [0.82]; P?=?.02), substance use disorders (alcohol abuse, 96.5 [0.67]; P?<?.001; drug abuse, 97.6 [0.64]; P?=?.02), and specific phobia (97.1 [0.39]; P?=?.001) after adjustment for a wide range of potential confounders. Intelligence was not associated with posttraumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and anxiety disorders other than specific phobia, and was positively associated with past-year major depression (mean [SE], 100 [0.5]; P?=?.01). Associations of fluid intelligence with lifetime disorders that had remitted were attenuated compared with past-year disorders, with the exception of separation anxiety disorder. Multiple past-year disorders had a larger proportion of adolescents less than 1 SD below the mean IQ range than those without a disorder. Across disorders, higher disorder severity was associated with lower fluid intelligence. For example, among adolescents with specific phobia, those with severe disorder had a mean (SE) of 4.4 (0.72) points lower IQ than those without severe disorder (P?<?.001), and those with alcohol abuse had a mean (SE) of 5.6 (1.2) points lower IQ than those without severe disorder (P?<?.001). Conclusions and Relevance:Numerous psychiatric disorders were associated with reductions in fluid intelligence; associations were generally small in magnitude. Stronger associations of current than past disorders with intelligence suggest that active symptoms of psychiatric disorders interfere with cognitive functioning. Early identification and treatment of children with mental disorders in school settings is critical to promote academic achievement and long-term success.

Dataset Information

Targeted Estimation of the Relationship Between Childhood Adversity and Fluid Intelligence in a US Population Sample of Adolescents.

Publications

Targeted Estimation of the Relationship Between Childhood Adversity and Fluid Intelligence in a US Population Sample of Adolescents.

Similar Datasets

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