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The Australian Twin ADHD Project: Current Status and Future Directions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2012

Kellie S. Bennett ,
David A. Hay ,
Jan Piek ,
Jillian Pearsall-Jones ,
Florence Levy  and
Neilson Martin
Kellie S. Bennett*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, Australia. K.Bennett@curtin.edu.au
David A. Hay
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Jan Piek
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Jillian Pearsall-Jones
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Florence Levy
Affiliation:
Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia.
Neilson Martin
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
*
*Address for correspondence: Kellie Bennett, School of Psychology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia, 6945, Australia.

Abstract

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This article describes the Australian Twin Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) Project (ATAP), the results of research conducted using this database and plans for future studies. Information has been actively collected from Australian families with twin children since 1991 for the ATAP database. The value of assessing siblings as well as twins is emphasized. Much work has gone into continuing the involvement of families in the study though this does become more difficult when twins reach maturity. The main focus of the project is ADHD in children and adolescents plus comorbid conditions including conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder. A major challenge has been how to retain continuity in the assessments, while at the same time covering changes in psychiatric classification, such as the move to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Changes in the scale can affect the reports of twin similarity. Over the years, these twins have become part of other twin studies and future plans include linking different twin databases to investigate the relationships between childhood behavior and adult conditions. Recruitment, assessment and retention of twin families require a major commitment but create a significant resource for collaboration in areas outside the original aim.

Type
Articles/Australia
Information
Twin Research and Human Genetics , Volume 9 , Issue 6 , 01 December 2006 , pp. 718 - 726
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006