Tom A Mcadams
Biographic Data
| ID | 1660636 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tom A Mcadams |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tom A |
| FAMILY NAME | Mcadams |
| SIGNATURE | MCADAMS T A |
| AFFILIATIONS | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6825-3499 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 2 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Co‐development of ADHD symptoms and emotional problems from childhood to adulthood
BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and emotional problems frequently co-occur. Longitudinal data provide opportunities to understand how and why they co-develop. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Twins Early Development Study, which included 27,890 participants. Emotional problems and ADHD symptoms were parent-reported using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and Conners' Parent Rating scales. We modele…
The role of comorbid childhood mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions in the persistence of ADHD symptoms
Background Children diagnosed with ADHD and other comorbid mental health conditions often exhibit more severe functional impairments than those without comorbid conditions, including a tendency for their ADHD symptoms to persist into later developmental stages. We conducted a systematic review and quantitative analysis to investigate the extent to which specific childhood comorbidities (internalizing, externalizing and neurodevelopmental conditio…
Initiation and stability of self‐harm in adolescence and early adulthood
BACKGROUND: Almost one in five (18.8%) UK adolescents are estimated to self-harm and many young people initiate self-harm early (average age 13 years). Prevention of self-harm should be informed by knowledge about risk factors (e.g. socio-demographic indices), characteristics (i.e. motivation for self-harm and help-seeking behaviours), as well as relative aetiological genetic and environmental processes. Previous twin studies evidence both geneti…
Examining the association between cognitive ability and emotional problems across childhood using a genetically informative design
BACKGROUND: Emotional problems co-occur with difficulties in verbal and nonverbal cognitive ability, yet the pathways underlying their association remain poorly understood: It is unclear whether effects may be causal, and to what extent they may run from cognition to emotion, or vice versa. METHODS: Our preregistered analyses included 5,124 twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS). At ages 7, 9 and 12, emotional problems were asse…
The nature of the relation between mental well-being and ill-being
Socioeconomic status and risk for child psychopathology
BACKGROUND: Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with increased risk for emotional and behavioural problems among children. Evidence from twin studies has shown that family SES moderates genetic and environmental influences on child mental health. However, it is also known that SES is itself under genetic influence and previous gene-environment interaction (G×E) studies have not incorporated the potential genetic overlap between child men…
Annual Research Review
Distinguishing between the effects of nature and nurture constitutes a major research goal for those interested in understanding human development. It is known, for example, that many parent traits predict mental health outcomes in children, but the causal processes underlying such associations are often unclear. Family‐based quasi‐experimental designs such as sibling comparison, adoption and extended family studies have been used for decades to …
Parental criticism and adolescent internalising symptoms
BACKGROUND: Parental criticism is correlated with internalising symptoms in adolescent offspring. This correlation could in part reflect their genetic relatedness, if the same genes influence behaviours in both parents and offspring. We use a Children-of-Twins design to assess whether parent-reported criticism and offspring internalising symptoms remain associated after controlling for shared genes. To aid interpretation of our results and those …
On the importance of parenting in externalizing disorders
BACKGROUND: Theoretical models of the development of childhood externalizing disorders emphasize the role of parents. Empirical studies have not been able to identify specific aspects of parental behaviors explaining a considerable proportion of the observed individual differences in externalizing problems. The problem is complicated by the contribution of genetic factors to externalizing problems, as parents provide both genes and environments t…
Genetic and environmental contributions to co-occurring ADHD and emotional problems in school-aged children
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience co-occurring emotional problems. ADHD with this comorbidity is associated with poorer outcomes than ADHD without comorbidity. Better understanding of the etiology of comorbidity could improve prevention of negative outcomes for children with ADHD. The sample consisted of 567 twin pairs, 3,632 sibling pairs, and 2,340 cousin pairs from the Norwegian Mother, Father and C…
Mechanisms linking parental educational attainment with child ADHD, depression, and academic problems
BACKGROUND: Low educational attainment in parents is associated with child psychopathology. It is not clear whether the associations are due to risk factors that family members share or due to effects of maternal or paternal education on the offspring. We investigate whether associations between maternal and paternal educational attainment and child symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and academic problems are…
Maternal Perinatal and Concurrent Anxiety and Mental Health Problems in Early Childhood
Do associations between maternal anxiety symptoms and offspring mental health remain after comparing differentially exposed siblings? Participants were 17,724 offspring siblings and 11,553 mothers from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study. Mothers reported anxiety and depressive symptoms at 30 weeks’ gestation, and 0.5, 1.5, 3, and 5 years postpartum. Child internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed at ages 1.5, 3, and 5, and m…
The Parent Play Questionnaire
We introduce the Parent Play Questionnaire (PPQ), a parent‐report measure designed to assess frequency of parent–infant play, parents’ attitudes towards play with their infant, and infants’ use of digital media. We describe measure development and empirical data across three samples of parent–infant dyads (total N = 414, offspring aged 0.3–2.5 years). Three latent factors explain the PPQ, corresponding with theoretically defined subscales. Summar…
Genetics of co-developing conduct and emotional problems during childhood and adolescence
Etiological Influences on Perceptions of Parenting
Children and their parents often differ in their perception of the relationship they share. As this relationship changes developmentally, the nature of these differences may also change. Longitudinal genetic designs can be used to investigate the developmental etiologies of shared and distinct perceptions. In this study, we used longitudinal psychometric models to analyze child and parent reports of negative parenting for 6417 twin pairs from the…
Accounting for genetic and environmental confounds in associations between parent and child characteristics
The Parent Play Questionnaire
We introduce the Parent Play Questionnaire (PPQ), a parent‐report measure designed to assess frequency of parent–infant play, parents’ attitudes towards play with their infant, and infants’ use of digital media. We describe measure development and empirical data across three samples of parent–infant dyads (total N = 414, offspring aged 0.3–2.5 years). Three latent factors explain the PPQ, corresponding with theoretically defined subscales. Summar…
Etiological Influences on Perceptions of Parenting
Children and their parents often differ in their perception of the relationship they share. As this relationship changes developmentally, the nature of these differences may also change. Longitudinal genetic designs can be used to investigate the developmental etiologies of shared and distinct perceptions. In this study, we used longitudinal psychometric models to analyze child and parent reports of negative parenting for 6417 twin pairs from the…
Accounting for genetic and environmental confounds in associations between parent and child characteristics
Etiological Influences on Perceptions of Parenting
Children and their parents often differ in their perception of the relationship they share. As this relationship changes developmentally, the nature of these differences may also change. Longitudinal genetic designs can be used to investigate the developmental etiologies of shared and distinct perceptions. In this study, we used longitudinal psychometric models to analyze child and parent reports of negative parenting for 6417 twin pairs from the…
Genetics of co-developing conduct and emotional problems during childhood and adolescence
Mechanisms linking parental educational attainment with child ADHD, depression, and academic problems
BACKGROUND: Low educational attainment in parents is associated with child psychopathology. It is not clear whether the associations are due to risk factors that family members share or due to effects of maternal or paternal education on the offspring. We investigate whether associations between maternal and paternal educational attainment and child symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and academic problems are…
Maternal Perinatal and Concurrent Anxiety and Mental Health Problems in Early Childhood
Do associations between maternal anxiety symptoms and offspring mental health remain after comparing differentially exposed siblings? Participants were 17,724 offspring siblings and 11,553 mothers from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study. Mothers reported anxiety and depressive symptoms at 30 weeks’ gestation, and 0.5, 1.5, 3, and 5 years postpartum. Child internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed at ages 1.5, 3, and 5, and m…
The Parent Play Questionnaire
We introduce the Parent Play Questionnaire (PPQ), a parent‐report measure designed to assess frequency of parent–infant play, parents’ attitudes towards play with their infant, and infants’ use of digital media. We describe measure development and empirical data across three samples of parent–infant dyads (total N = 414, offspring aged 0.3–2.5 years). Three latent factors explain the PPQ, corresponding with theoretically defined subscales. Summar…
Genetic and environmental contributions to co-occurring ADHD and emotional problems in school-aged children
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience co-occurring emotional problems. ADHD with this comorbidity is associated with poorer outcomes than ADHD without comorbidity. Better understanding of the etiology of comorbidity could improve prevention of negative outcomes for children with ADHD. The sample consisted of 567 twin pairs, 3,632 sibling pairs, and 2,340 cousin pairs from the Norwegian Mother, Father and C…
Parental criticism and adolescent internalising symptoms
BACKGROUND: Parental criticism is correlated with internalising symptoms in adolescent offspring. This correlation could in part reflect their genetic relatedness, if the same genes influence behaviours in both parents and offspring. We use a Children-of-Twins design to assess whether parent-reported criticism and offspring internalising symptoms remain associated after controlling for shared genes. To aid interpretation of our results and those …
On the importance of parenting in externalizing disorders
BACKGROUND: Theoretical models of the development of childhood externalizing disorders emphasize the role of parents. Empirical studies have not been able to identify specific aspects of parental behaviors explaining a considerable proportion of the observed individual differences in externalizing problems. The problem is complicated by the contribution of genetic factors to externalizing problems, as parents provide both genes and environments t…
Annual Research Review
Distinguishing between the effects of nature and nurture constitutes a major research goal for those interested in understanding human development. It is known, for example, that many parent traits predict mental health outcomes in children, but the causal processes underlying such associations are often unclear. Family‐based quasi‐experimental designs such as sibling comparison, adoption and extended family studies have been used for decades to …
Socioeconomic status and risk for child psychopathology
BACKGROUND: Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with increased risk for emotional and behavioural problems among children. Evidence from twin studies has shown that family SES moderates genetic and environmental influences on child mental health. However, it is also known that SES is itself under genetic influence and previous gene-environment interaction (G×E) studies have not incorporated the potential genetic overlap between child men…
Initiation and stability of self‐harm in adolescence and early adulthood
BACKGROUND: Almost one in five (18.8%) UK adolescents are estimated to self-harm and many young people initiate self-harm early (average age 13 years). Prevention of self-harm should be informed by knowledge about risk factors (e.g. socio-demographic indices), characteristics (i.e. motivation for self-harm and help-seeking behaviours), as well as relative aetiological genetic and environmental processes. Previous twin studies evidence both geneti…
Examining the association between cognitive ability and emotional problems across childhood using a genetically informative design
BACKGROUND: Emotional problems co-occur with difficulties in verbal and nonverbal cognitive ability, yet the pathways underlying their association remain poorly understood: It is unclear whether effects may be causal, and to what extent they may run from cognition to emotion, or vice versa. METHODS: Our preregistered analyses included 5,124 twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS). At ages 7, 9 and 12, emotional problems were asse…
The nature of the relation between mental well-being and ill-being
Co‐development of ADHD symptoms and emotional problems from childhood to adulthood
BACKGROUND: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and emotional problems frequently co-occur. Longitudinal data provide opportunities to understand how and why they co-develop. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Twins Early Development Study, which included 27,890 participants. Emotional problems and ADHD symptoms were parent-reported using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and Conners' Parent Rating scales. We modele…
The role of comorbid childhood mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions in the persistence of ADHD symptoms
Background Children diagnosed with ADHD and other comorbid mental health conditions often exhibit more severe functional impairments than those without comorbid conditions, including a tendency for their ADHD symptoms to persist into later developmental stages. We conducted a systematic review and quantitative analysis to investigate the extent to which specific childhood comorbidities (internalizing, externalizing and neurodevelopmental conditio…
Psychology (14 works) · Developmental psychology (13 works) · Clinical Psychology (9 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (8 works) · Cognitive Abilities and Testing (6 works) · Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (5 works) · Medicine (5 works) · Psychiatry (5 works) · Genetics (4 works) · Heritability (4 works)