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Childhood maltreatment and polygenic risk in bipolar disorders
Author(s) -
Aas Monica,
Bellivier Frank,
Bettella Francesco,
Henry Chantal,
Gard Sebastien,
Kahn JeanPierre,
Lagerberg Trine V.,
Aminoff Sofie R.,
Melle Ingrid,
Leboyer Marion,
Jamain Stéphane,
Andreassen Ole A.,
Etain Bruno
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
bipolar disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.285
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1399-5618
pISSN - 1398-5647
DOI - 10.1111/bdi.12851
Subject(s) - ctq tree , bipolar disorder , psychiatry , mood disorders , psychology , clinical psychology , childhood abuse , child abuse , mood , risk factor , vulnerability (computing) , poison control , medicine , injury prevention , anxiety , domestic violence , medical emergency , computer security , computer science
Background Childhood maltreatment is a well‐known risk factor for developing a more severe and complex form of bipolar disorders (BD). However, knowledge is scarce about the interactions between childhood maltreatment and underlying genetic vulnerability on the clinical expression of BD. Method We assigned a BD‐polygenic risk score (BD‐PRS), calculated from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, to each individual in a sample of 402 cases with BD. The lifetime clinical expression of BD was characterized using structured interviews and patients completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) to assess the severity of childhood maltreatment. Results Cases who reported more severe childhood maltreatment had a lower BD‐PRS (rho = −0.12, P = .01), especially when considering emotional abuse (rho = −0.16, P = .001). An interaction between BD‐PRS and childhood maltreatment was observed for the risk of rapid cycling ( P = .01). No further interactions between BD‐PRS and childhood maltreatment were observed for other clinical characteristics (age at onset, suicide attempts, number of mood episodes, mixed features, substance use disorders and psychotic symptoms). Conclusion Our study is the first to show that less genetic risk may be needed to develop a more unstable form of BD when exposed to childhood maltreatment. Our study supports childhood trauma as an independent risk factor for BD.