Understanding comorbidity: A twin study of reading disability and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Abstract
A community sample of twins in which at least one member of each pair exhibited significant reading difficulties (99 monozygotic and 80 dizygotic pairs) or symptoms of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; 83 monozygotic and 78 dizygotic pairs) was used to test the etiology of comorbidity between reading disability (RD) and ADHD. Univariate analyses revealed moderate to high heritability for all measures of reading difficulty and ADHD. Subsequent bivariate analyses indicated that the relation between reading difficulties and inattention symptoms is primarily attributable to common genetic influences, whereas bivariate heritability estimates were not significant for hyperactivity‐impulsivity and any of the reading measures. Reading difficulties and ADHD symptoms were more highly heritable if the proband met criteria for both disorders versus RD or ADHD alone, suggesting that future molecular genetic analyses of comorbid RD + ADHD may facilitate the identification of susceptibility genes for RD, ADHD, and their comorbidity. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
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The larger effect for phonemic verbal fluency in individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder could potentially be due to deficits in phonological processing in many individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, since attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and reading disabilities frequently co-occur.
“In contrast, the larger effect for phonemic verbal fluency in individuals with ADHD could potentially be due to deficits in phonological processing in many individuals with ADHD, since ADHD and reading disabilities frequently co-occur (Willcutt et al., 2007).”
From Advancing understanding of executive function impairments and psychopathology: bridging the gap between clinical and cognitive approaches (2015) · cites this paper as Willcutt et al., 2007
ADHD is associated with increased rates of neurodevelopmental traits and disorders including autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, and impaired motor coordination, which are thought to arise from overlapping genetic influences.
“ADHD is also associated with increased rates of neurodevelopmental traits and disorders including autism spectrum disorder [195], dyslexia [196] and impaired motor coordination [197]; which are thought to arise from overlapping genetic influences.”
From European consensus statement on diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD: The European Network Adult ADHD (2010) · cites this paper as [196]
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Willcutt, E. G., Pennington, B. F., Olson, R. K., & DeFries, J. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of Denver (US)
- Corresponding author
- Willcutt, Erik G.
- Venue
- American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2007-08-20
- Volume
- 144B
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 709-714
- ISSN
- 1552-4841 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-485X
- OpenAlex
- W2166028507
- Cited by
- 205
- References
- 41
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 17
- FWCI
- 8.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B Neuropsychiatric Genetics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- U.S. Public Health Service (R01 38526)
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH 04024, R01MH63941, R01 MH62120, R01MH063941, R01MH062120, F32 MH 12100, F32MH012100, MH 38820)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD047264, P50-HD27802, P50HD027802)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Developmental and Educational Neuropsychology
- Keywords
- reading disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, comorbidities, heritability, monozygotic twins, dizygotic twins, genetic factors, inattentive symptoms, hyperactivity/impulsivity, susceptibility genes, reading difficulties
- MeSH terms
- Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Child, Colorado, Dyslexia, Female, Humans, Male, Twins, Dizygotic, Twins, Monozygotic, Comorbidity, Genetic Predisposition to Disease
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