Psychology Commons^™

Refining The Characterization Of Causation In Early Childhood Neuropsychiatric Conditions: Nature, Nurture, And Time, Rachael Elizabeth Wagner

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding causal factors in the development of early childhood neuropsychiatric conditions is essential for an understanding of disease mechanisms and therapeutic approaches. Yet the lack of objective classification of psychiatric diagnoses, phenotypic and genetic heterogeneity, pleiotropy, and extensive comorbidity have posed immense challenges to the acquisition of knowledge regarding neuropsychiatric disease etiology. While it is unequivocally established that nearly all psychiatric conditions are substantially heritable, non-genetic factors do play a role in the development of psychopathology. This thesis explores both genetic and environmental contributors to neuropsychiatric conditions in an attempt to refine the characterization of some of these risk factors. …