A genetically informed Registered Report on adverse childhood experiences and mental health

Children who experience adversities have an elevated risk of mental health problems. However, the extent to which adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) cause mental health problems remains unclear, as previous associations may partly reflect genetic confounding. In this Registered Report, we used DNA from 11,407 children from the UK and USA to investigate gene-environment correlations and genetic confounding of the associations between ACEs and mental health. Regarding gene-environment correlations, children with higher polygenic scores for mental health problems had a small increase in odds for ACEs. Regarding genetic confounding, elevated risk of mental health problems in children exposed to ACEs was at least partially due to pre-existing genetic risk. However, some ACEs (e.g., childhood maltreatment, parental mental illness) remained associated with mental health problems independent of genetic confounding. These findings suggest that interventions addressing heritable psychiatric vulnerabilities in children exposed to ACEs may help to reduce their risk of mental health problems.