Year: 2018
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: It has recently been proposed that a single dimension, called the p factor, can capture a person's liability to mental disorder. Relevant to the p hypothesis, recent genetic research has found surprisingly high genetic correlations between pairs of psychiatric disorders. Here, for the first time, we compare genetic correlations from different methods and examine their support for a genetic p factor. We tested the hypothesis of a genetic p factor by applying principal component analysis to matrices of genetic correlations between major psychiatric disorders estimated by three methods-family study, genome-wide complex trait analysis, and linkage-disequilibrium score regression-and on a matrix of polygenic score correlations constructed for each individual in a UK-representative sample of 7 026 unrelated individuals. All disorders loaded positively on a first unrotated principal component, which accounted for 57, 43, 35, and 22% of the variance respectively for the four methods. Our results showed that all four methods provided strong support for a genetic p factor that represents the pinnacle of the hierarchical genetic architecture of psychopathology.
Source: Translational Psychiatry
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,659
Funders: South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Charity, National Institute for Health and Care Research, King's College London, European Commission, National Institutes of Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, Medical Research Council, National Institute on Aging, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council
Awards: G1093531541, G2082591074, G2473961061, G2496263360, G2761558319, G2973790809, G3207356259, G393177772, G4449678476, Aggression in Children: Unraveling gene-environment interplay to inform Treatment and InterventiON strateg, G463724992, Genetics of Mathematical Cognition and Disabilities, Origins of learning difficulties and behaviour problems: from behavioural genetics to behavioural genomics., G4921234783, G536866722, G5702163051, Colorado Adoption Project/Twin Study of Lifespan behavioral development & cognitive aging [CATSLife2], Genetics of High Cognitive Abilities, Midlife Pace of Aging in the Dunedin Study, G7624716486, G7716769900, G8658852833, Genetics, school environments and cognitive development
OpenAlex ID: W2792311028