Associations of Resting Heart Rate and Intelligence With General and Specific Psychopathology: A Prospective Population Study of 899,398 Swedish Men

Erik Pettersson,Benjamin B Lahey,Brian M D’Onofrio,Paul Lichtenstein,Antti Latvala,Henrik Larsson

doi:10.1177/2167702620961081

Abstract

We examined longitudinal associations of resting heart rate (RHR) and general intelligence (IQ) with two psychopathology models (correlated factors and general factor model). RHR and IQ were measured during conscription (mean age = 18.23 years; N = 899,398 Swedish males). A correlated factors model of register-based outcomes (including 10 psychiatric diagnoses, criminal convictions, and prescription of anxiolytic medications; mean age at follow-up = 43.09 years) identified internalizing, externalizing, and psychotic dimensions; the general factor model additionally identified a general dimension. All correlated factors were inversely associated with IQ; however, the general factor model showed that several of these associations were attributable to general variance rather than specific variance. In both psychopathology models, RHR weakly but significantly predicted higher internalizing but lower externalizing problems. Intelligence might be a transdiagnostic risk factor for any form of psychopathology, and the internalizing and externalizing spectra might be differentiated by psychobiological processes related to sensitivity to punishment.

Highlights

In recent years, it has been hypothesized that a general factor and several specific factors influence mental health problems (Caspi & Moffitt, 2018; Lahey, Krueger, Rathouz, Waldman, & Zald, 2017)
Much less is known about the nature of the specific latent factors of psychopathology identified in general factor models
It remains uncertain whether general intelligence (IQ) in emerging adulthood predicts general psychopathology in middle adulthood when based on psychopathology severe enough to warrant clinical diagnoses

Summary

Introduction

It has been hypothesized that a general factor and several specific factors influence mental health problems (Caspi & Moffitt, 2018; Lahey, Krueger, Rathouz, Waldman, & Zald, 2017). Several cross-sectional studies and one prospective study that followed participants from childhood to adulthood (range of Ns = 415–2,450) have since demonstrated that a substantial proportion of these associations can be attributed to a general factor of psychopathology as measured by clinical or parental interviews (Caspi et al, 2014; Castellanos-Ryan et al, 2016; Grotzinger, Cheung, Patterson, Harden, & TuckerDrob, 2019; Huang-Pollock, Shapiro, Galloway-Long, & Weigard, 2017; Lahey et al, 2015; Nigg et al, 2017) It remains uncertain whether general intelligence (IQ) in emerging adulthood predicts general psychopathology in middle adulthood when based on psychopathology severe enough to warrant clinical diagnoses. Our third goal was to further the construct validity of the general and specific factors by comparing the findings with those based on a correlated factors model

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