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Contribution of childhood lead exposure to psychopathology in the US population over the past 75 years.

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Title: Contribution of childhood lead exposure to psychopathology in the US population over the past 75 years.
Authors: McFarland, Michael J., Reuben, Aaron, Hauer, Matt
Source: Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry. May2025, Vol. 66 Issue 5, p659-666. 8p.
Subjects: Mental illness risk factors, Mental depression risk factors, Risk factors of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Lead exposure, Risk assessment, Mental health, Secondary analysis, Anxiety, Severity of illness index, Internalizing behavior, Descriptive statistics, Environmental exposure, Personality, Pathological psychology, Children
Geographic Terms: United States
Abstract: Background: More than half of the current US population was exposed to adverse lead levels in childhood as a result of lead's past use in gasoline. The total contribution of childhood lead exposures to US‐population mental health and personality has yet to be evaluated. Methods: We combined serial, cross‐sectional blood–lead level (BLL) data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) with historic leaded‐gasoline data to estimate US childhood BLLs from 1940 to 2015 and calculate population mental‐health symptom elevations from known lead‐psychopathology associations. We utilized five outcomes: (1) General Psychopathology "points", reflecting an individual's liability to overall mental disorder, scaled to match IQ scores (M = 100, SD = 15); (2) Symptoms of Internalizing disorders (anxiety and depression) and Attention‐deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), both z‐scored (M = 0, SD = 1); and (3) Differences in the personality traits of Neuroticism and Conscientiousness (M = 0, SD = 1). Results: Assuming that published lead‐psychopathology associations are causal and not purely correlational: We estimate that by 2015, the US population had gained 602‐million General Psychopathology factor points because of exposure arising from leaded gasoline, reflecting a 0.13‐standard‐deviation increase in overall liability to mental illness in the population and an estimated 151 million excess mental disorders attributable to lead exposure. Investigation of specific disorder‐domain symptoms identified a 0.64‐standard‐deviation increase in population‐level Internalizing symptoms and a 0.42‐standard‐deviation increase in AD/HD symptoms. Population‐level Neuroticism increased by 0.14 standard deviations and Conscientiousness decreased by 0.20 standard deviations. Lead‐associated mental health and personality differences were most pronounced for cohorts born from 1966 through 1986 (Generation X). Conclusions: A significant burden of mental illness symptomatology and disadvantageous personality differences can be attributed to US children's exposure to lead over the past 75 years. Lead's potential contribution to psychiatry, medicine, and children's health may be larger than previously assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Contribution of childhood lead exposure to psychopathology in the US population over the past 75 years.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22McFarland%2C+Michael+J%2E%22">McFarland, Michael J.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Reuben%2C+Aaron%22">Reuben, Aaron</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hauer%2C+Matt%22">Hauer, Matt</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Journal+of+Child+Psychology+%26+Psychiatry%22">Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry</searchLink>. May2025, Vol. 66 Issue 5, p659-666. 8p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mental+illness+risk+factors%22">Mental illness risk factors</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mental+depression+risk+factors%22">Mental depression risk factors</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Risk+factors+of+attention-deficit+hyperactivity+disorder%22">Risk factors of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Lead+exposure%22">Lead exposure</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Risk+assessment%22">Risk assessment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mental+health%22">Mental health</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+analysis%22">Secondary analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Anxiety%22">Anxiety</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Severity+of+illness+index%22">Severity of illness index</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Internalizing+behavior%22">Internalizing behavior</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Descriptive+statistics%22">Descriptive statistics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Environmental+exposure%22">Environmental exposure</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Personality%22">Personality</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pathological+psychology%22">Pathological psychology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Children%22">Children</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22United+States%22">United States</searchLink>
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Background: More than half of the current US population was exposed to adverse lead levels in childhood as a result of lead's past use in gasoline. The total contribution of childhood lead exposures to US‐population mental health and personality has yet to be evaluated. Methods: We combined serial, cross‐sectional blood–lead level (BLL) data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) with historic leaded‐gasoline data to estimate US childhood BLLs from 1940 to 2015 and calculate population mental‐health symptom elevations from known lead‐psychopathology associations. We utilized five outcomes: (1) General Psychopathology "points", reflecting an individual's liability to overall mental disorder, scaled to match IQ scores (M = 100, SD = 15); (2) Symptoms of Internalizing disorders (anxiety and depression) and Attention‐deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), both z‐scored (M = 0, SD = 1); and (3) Differences in the personality traits of Neuroticism and Conscientiousness (M = 0, SD = 1). Results: Assuming that published lead‐psychopathology associations are causal and not purely correlational: We estimate that by 2015, the US population had gained 602‐million General Psychopathology factor points because of exposure arising from leaded gasoline, reflecting a 0.13‐standard‐deviation increase in overall liability to mental illness in the population and an estimated 151 million excess mental disorders attributable to lead exposure. Investigation of specific disorder‐domain symptoms identified a 0.64‐standard‐deviation increase in population‐level Internalizing symptoms and a 0.42‐standard‐deviation increase in AD/HD symptoms. Population‐level Neuroticism increased by 0.14 standard deviations and Conscientiousness decreased by 0.20 standard deviations. Lead‐associated mental health and personality differences were most pronounced for cohorts born from 1966 through 1986 (Generation X). Conclusions: A significant burden of mental illness symptomatology and disadvantageous personality differences can be attributed to US children's exposure to lead over the past 75 years. Lead's potential contribution to psychiatry, medicine, and children's health may be larger than previously assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=pbh&AN=186111084
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        Value: 10.1111/jcpp.14072
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 8
        StartPage: 659
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Mental illness risk factors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mental depression risk factors
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Risk factors of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Lead exposure
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Risk assessment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mental health
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Secondary analysis
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Anxiety
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      – SubjectFull: Severity of illness index
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      – SubjectFull: Internalizing behavior
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      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Environmental exposure
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      – SubjectFull: Personality
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      – SubjectFull: Pathological psychology
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      – SubjectFull: Children
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      – SubjectFull: United States
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      – TitleFull: Contribution of childhood lead exposure to psychopathology in the US population over the past 75 years.
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            – D: 01
              M: 05
              Text: May2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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