Internalising problems are highly prevalent in childhood and classical twin studies have shown that the phenotype is partly heritable. However, no genetic variants have been unambiguously identified to be associated with childhood internalizing problems. It is likely that with increased sample sizes will yield sufficient power to detect genome-wide significant effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The main aim of the current investigation is to conduct a large-scale genome-wide association meta-analysis of internalising problems in childhood and adolescence by combining data from multiple cohorts.
A GWAS of emotional problems as measured by the SDQ throughout childhood and adolescence will be performed using imputed genome-wide SNP data from the offspring. Summary results will be transferred to the analytical team in Amsterdam who will meta-analyse the ALSPAC data along with several other cohorts from the EAGLE consortium.