RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Childhood mental health problems are partly influence by genetic factors with heritability estimates varying between 40% and 90%. AIM: We provide examples of genetic research focusing on explaining the continuity of symptoms and the association between parental traits and offspring psychopathology. METHOD: We summarize two recently publish review papers RESULTS: There are significant genetic correlations between childhood and adult mental disorders. Genetic factors also explain part of the associations between parental traits and offspring psychopathology, because parents and children share 50% of their genetic material. CONCLUSION: The role of genetic factors is not restricted to influencing the risk to develop a mental disorder. They also play a role in persistence of symptoms and the associations with the environment.