Work

Testing the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Hypothesis for Psychopathology Using Family-Based, Quasi-Experimental Designs

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: The Developmental Origin of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis is a broad theoretical framework that emphasizes how early risk factors have a causal influence on psychopathology. Researchers have raised concerns about the causal interpretation of statistical associations between early risk factors and later psychopathology because most existing studies have been unable to rule out the possibility of environmental and genetic confounding. In this paper we illustrate how family-based quasi-experimental designs can test the DOHaD hypothesis by ruling out alternative hypotheses. We review the logic underlying sibling-comparison, co-twin control, offspring of siblings/twins, adoption, and in vitro fertilization designs. We then present results from studies using these designs focused on broad indices of fetal development (low birth weight and gestational age) and a particular teratogen, smoking during pregnancy. The results provide mixed support for the DOHaD hypothesis for psychopathology, illustrating the critical need to use design features that rule out unmeasured confounding.

Source: Child Development Perspectives

DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12078

Authors: Brian Donofrio, Quetzal Class, Benjamin Lahey, Henrik Larsson

Institutions: Indiana University, University of Chicago, Karolinska Institutet

Language: English

Topic: Birth, Development, and Health

Subfield: Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green