Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications
Language
English
Publication Date
9-1-2024
Journal
Psychiatry Research
DOI
10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116080
PMID
39002500
PMCID
PMC11321910
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
9-1-2025
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Abstract
Recent advances in psychiatric genetics have enabled the use of polygenic risk scores (PRS) to estimate genetic risk for psychiatric disorders. However, the potential use of PRS in child and adolescent psychiatry has raised concerns. This study provides an in-depth examination of attitudes among child and adolescent psychiatrists (CAP) regarding the use of PRS in psychiatry. We conducted semi-structured interviews with U.S.-based CAP (n=29) who possess expertise in genetics. The majority of CAP indicated that PRS have limited clinical utility in their current form and are not ready for clinical implementation. Most clinicians stated that nothing would motivate them to generate PRS at present; however, some exceptions were noted (e.g., parent/family request). Clinicians spoke to challenges related to ordering, interpreting, and explaining PRS to patients and families. CAP raised concerns regarding the potential for this information to be misinterpreted or misused by patients, families, clinicians, and outside entities such as insurance companies. Finally, some CAP noted that PRS may lead to increased stigmatization of psychiatric disorders, and at the extreme, could be used to support eugenics. As PRS testing increases, it will be critical to examine CAP and other stakeholders’ views to ensure responsible implementation of this technology.
Keywords
Humans, Mental Disorders, Male, Female, Multifactorial Inheritance, Adolescent Psychiatry, Adolescent, Child Psychiatry, Child, Attitude of Health Personnel, Adult, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Middle Aged, Genetic Risk Score, Psychiatrists, genetics, genetic testing, ethics, polygenic risk scores, child and adolescent psychiatry, treatment, psychiatry
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
Merner, Amanda R; Trotter, Page M; Ginn, Lauren A; et al., "Psychiatric Polygenic Risk Scores: Experience, Hope for Utility, and Concerns Among Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists" (2024). Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications. 315.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/med_ethics/315
Included in
Bioethics and Medical Ethics Commons, Health Policy Commons, Medical Genetics Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons, Psychiatry and Psychology Commons