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Pettersson E, Larsson H, D'Onofrio BM, Lichtenstein P. Associations Between General and Specific Psychopathology Factors and 10-Year Clinically Relevant Outcomes in Adult Swedish Twins and Siblings. JAMA Psychiatry 2023:2804640. [PMID: 37163290 PMCID: PMC10173102 DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2023.1162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Importance General and specific factors of psychopathology are associated with future adverse outcomes, indicating that they might be useful for identifying individuals at greatest risk. However, it remains unknown if these associations are attributable to confounders that may influence both the psychopathology factors and later outcomes. Objective To analyze associations between psychopathology factors and clinically relevant outcomes within family pairs, adjusting for unmeasured confounds by applying co-twin control and sibling comparison designs. Design, Setting, and Participants This longitudinal cohort study with a follow-up range of 9 to 13 years included all Swedish twins born from 1959 to 1985 who participated in the Study of Twin Adults: Genes and Environment (60% response rate) and the oldest pair of all Swedish siblings born from 1959 to 1985 per the Multi-Generation Register. Twins were evaluated based on responses to a hierarchical factor model derived using multivariate statistics. Sibling pairs were evaluated based on psychiatric diagnoses per the Swedish National Patient Register. Information on outcome events and prescriptions were derived from the National Patient Register, Prescribed Drug Register, and Crime Register. Baseline assessment was in August 2005, and data were analyzed from January 2022 to February 2023. Exposures Hierarchical factor model consisting of 1 general and 4 specific factors fit to 48 psychiatric symptoms on which twin participants self-reported in 2005 and 1 general and 3 specific factors fit to 9 register-based psychiatric diagnoses assigned to sibling participants prior to 2005. Main Outcomes and Measures Outcomes consisted of 7 register-based events occurring after 2005, including suicidal behavior, substance overdoses, and criminal suspicion or convictions (data available until the end of 2013), and prescription of antidepressants, antialcohol or antiopioid medication, antipsychotics, and stimulants (data available until the end of 2017). Results The study included 32 328 twins (mean [SD] age, 34 [8] years; 16 076 [49.73%] male) and 1 942 106 siblings (mean [SD] age, 34 [7] years; 991 500 [51.05%] male). General psychopathology was significantly associated with all 7 outcomes within sibling pairs (mean within-pair odds ratio [OR], 2.28; 95% CI, 2.19-2.37) and dizygotic twin pairs (within-pairs OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.38-1.98) and with 3 outcomes within monozygotic twin pairs (mean within-pairs OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.35-2.36). Within sibling pairs, the specific internalizing factor was associated with antidepressant prescriptions (within-pairs OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.59-1.71), the specific substance misuse factor was associated prescription of antialcohol and antiopioid medication (within-pairs OR, 2.36; 95% CI, 2.20-2.54), and the specific psychotic factor was associated with antipsychotic medications (within-pairs OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.51-1.72). Similar results emerged within twin pairs. Conclusion and Relevance In this cohort study, general psychopathology was significantly associated with all 7 outcomes within sibling and dizygotic twin pairs and 3 outcomes within monozygotic twin pairs at 10 years. Within twin and sibling pairs, the specific factors were primarily associated with related outcomes. Several of the associations in this cohort study could not be attributed to unmeasured confounds shared by family members, suggesting that interventions toward broad psychopathology dimensions might help reduce the risk of future clinically relevant events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Pettersson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Henrik Larsson
- School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - Brian Mathew D'Onofrio
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Indiana, Bloomington
| | - Paul Lichtenstein
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
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Hirvikoski T, Boman M, Chen Q, D'Onofrio BM, Mittendorfer-Rutz E, Lichtenstein P, Bölte S, Larsson H. Individual risk and familial liability for suicide attempt and suicide in autism: a population-based study. Psychol Med 2020; 50:1463-1474. [PMID: 31238998 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291719001405] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Studies on the individual gender-specific risk and familial co-aggregation of suicidal behaviour in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are lacking. METHODS We conducted a matched case-cohort study applying conditional logistic regression models on 54 168 individuals recorded in 1987-2013 with ASD in Swedish national registers: ASD without ID n = 43 570 (out of which n = 19035, 43.69% with ADHD); ASD + ID n = 10 598 (out of which n = 2894 individuals, 27.31% with ADHD), and 270 840 controls, as well as 347 155 relatives of individuals with ASD and 1 735 775 control relatives. RESULTS The risk for suicidal behaviours [reported as odds ratio OR (95% confidence interval CI)] was most increased in the ASD without ID group with comorbid ADHD [suicide attempt 7.25 (6.79-7.73); most severe attempts i.e. requiring inpatient stay 12.37 (11.33-13.52); suicide 13.09 (8.54-20.08)]. The risk was also increased in ASD + ID group [all suicide attempts 2.60 (2.31-2.92); inpatient only 3.45 (2.96-4.02); suicide 2.31 (1.16-4.57)]. Females with ASD without ID had generally higher risk for suicidal behaviours than males, while both genders had highest risk in the case of comorbid ADHD [females, suicide attempts 10.27 (9.27-11.37); inpatient only 13.42 (11.87-15.18); suicide 14.26 (6.03-33.72); males, suicide attempts 5.55 (5.10-6.05); inpatient only 11.33 (9.98-12.86); suicide 12.72 (7.77-20.82)]. Adjustment for psychiatric comorbidity attenuated the risk estimates. In comparison to controls, relatives of individuals with ASD also had an increased risk of suicidal behaviour. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians treating patients with ASD should be vigilant for suicidal behaviour and consider treatment of psychiatric comorbidity.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Hirvikoski
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Pediatric Neuropsychiatry Unit, Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Habilitation & Health, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
- Center for Psychiatry Research, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - M Boman
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Q Chen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - B M D'Onofrio
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - E Mittendorfer-Rutz
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Insurance Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - P Lichtenstein
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - S Bölte
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Pediatric Neuropsychiatry Unit, Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders at Karolinska Institutet (KIND), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- Center for Psychiatry Research, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - H Larsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- School of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
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Brander G, Rydell M, Kuja-Halkola R, Fernández de la Cruz L, Lichtenstein P, Serlachius E, Rück C, Almqvist C, D'Onofrio BM, Larsson H, Mataix-Cols D. Perinatal risk factors in Tourette's and chronic tic disorders: a total population sibling comparison study. Mol Psychiatry 2018; 23:1189-1197. [PMID: 28348386 PMCID: PMC5984087 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2017.31] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2016] [Revised: 12/15/2016] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Adverse perinatal events may increase the risk of Tourette's and chronic tic disorders (TD/CTD), but previous studies have been unable to control for unmeasured environmental and genetic confounding. We aimed to prospectively investigate potential perinatal risk factors for TD/CTD, taking unmeasured factors shared between full siblings into account. A population-based birth cohort, consisting of all singletons born in Sweden in 1973-2003, was followed until December 2013. A total of 3 026 861 individuals were identified, 5597 of which had a registered TD/CTD diagnosis. We then studied differentially exposed full siblings from 947 942 families; of these, 3563 families included siblings that were discordant for TD/CTD. Perinatal data were collected from the Medical Birth Register and TD/CTD diagnoses were collected from the National Patient Register, using a previously validated algorithm. In the fully adjusted models, impaired fetal growth, preterm birth, breech presentation and cesarean section were associated with a higher risk of TD/CTD, largely independent from shared family confounders and measured covariates. Maternal smoking during pregnancy was associated with risk of TD/CTD in a dose-response manner but the association was no longer statistically significant in the sibling comparison models or after the exclusion of comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. A dose-response relationship between the number of adverse perinatal events and increased risk for TD/CTD was also observed, with hazard ratios ranging from 1.41 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.33-1.50) for one event to 2.42 (95% CI: 1.65-3.53) for five or more events. These results pave the way for future gene by environment interaction and epigenetic studies in TD/CTD.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Brander
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden,Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Gävlegatan 22B, Stockholm 113 30, Sweden. E-mail:
| | - M Rydell
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - R Kuja-Halkola
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - L Fernández de la Cruz
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - P Lichtenstein
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - E Serlachius
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden,Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - C Rück
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden,Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - C Almqvist
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden,Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - B M D'Onofrio
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - H Larsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden,Department of Medical Sciences, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden
| | - D Mataix-Cols
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatry Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden,Stockholm Health Care Services, Stockholm County Council, Stockholm, Sweden
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Javaras KN, Rickert ME, Thornton LM, Peat CM, Baker JH, Birgegård A, Norring C, Landén M, Almqvist C, Larsson H, Lichtenstein P, Bulik CM, D'Onofrio BM. Paternal age at childbirth and eating disorders in offspring. Psychol Med 2017; 47:576-584. [PMID: 27808013 PMCID: PMC6177268 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291716002610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Advanced paternal age at childbirth is associated with psychiatric disorders in offspring, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and autism. However, few studies have investigated paternal age's relationship with eating disorders in offspring. In a large, population-based cohort, we examined the association between paternal age and offspring eating disorders, and whether that association remains after adjustment for potential confounders (e.g. parental education level) that may be related to late/early selection into fatherhood and to eating disorder incidence. METHOD Data for 2 276 809 individuals born in Sweden 1979-2001 were extracted from Swedish population and healthcare registers. The authors used Cox proportional hazards models to examine the effect of paternal age on the first incidence of healthcare-recorded anorexia nervosa (AN) and all eating disorders (AED) occurring 1987-2009. Models were adjusted for sex, birth order, maternal age at childbirth, and maternal and paternal covariates including country of birth, highest education level, and lifetime psychiatric and criminal history. RESULTS Even after adjustment for covariates including maternal age, advanced paternal age was associated with increased risk, and younger paternal age with decreased risk, of AN and AED. For example, the fully adjusted hazard ratio for the 45+ years (v. the 25-29 years) paternal age category was 1.32 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.14-1.53] for AN and 1.26 (95% CI 1.13-1.40) for AED. CONCLUSIONS In this large, population-based cohort, paternal age at childbirth was positively associated with eating disorders in offspring, even after adjustment for potential confounders. Future research should further explore potential explanations for the association, including de novo mutations in the paternal germline.
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Affiliation(s)
- K N Javaras
- Department of Psychiatry,University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill, NC,USA
| | - M E Rickert
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences,Indiana University-Bloomington,Bloomington, IN,USA
| | - L M Thornton
- Department of Psychiatry,University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill, NC,USA
| | - C M Peat
- Department of Psychiatry,University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill, NC,USA
| | - J H Baker
- Department of Psychiatry,University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill, NC,USA
| | - A Birgegård
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden
| | - C Norring
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden
| | - M Landén
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden
| | - C Almqvist
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden
| | - H Larsson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden
| | - P Lichtenstein
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,Karolinska Institutet,Stockholm,Sweden
| | - C M Bulik
- Department of Psychiatry,University of North Carolina,Chapel Hill, NC,USA
| | - B M D'Onofrio
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences,Indiana University-Bloomington,Bloomington, IN,USA
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D'Onofrio BM, Van Hulle CA, Goodnight JA, Rathouz PJ, Lahey BB. Is maternal smoking during pregnancy a causal environmental risk factor for adolescent antisocial behavior? Testing etiological theories and assumptions. Psychol Med 2012; 42:1535-1545. [PMID: 22085725 PMCID: PMC3605718 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291711002443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although many studies indicate that maternal smoking during pregnancy (SDP) is correlated with later offspring antisocial behavior (ASB), recent quasi-experimental studies suggest that background familial factors confound the association. The present study sought to test alternative etiological hypotheses using multiple indices of adolescent ASB, comparing differentially exposed siblings, and testing assumptions in the sibling-comparison design. METHOD The study examined the association between maternal SDP and adolescent-reported ASB, criminal convictions and membership in a group of individuals with early-starting and chronic ASB among 6066 offspring of women from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a representative sample of women in the USA. The analyses controlled for statistical covariates and examined associations while comparing differentially exposed siblings. RESULTS At the population level, each additional pack of cigarettes per day predicted greater mean adolescent-reported ASB symptoms [ratio of means 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.08-1.22], odds of being in the top 10% of ASB [odds ratio (OR) 1.34, 95% CI 1.10-1.65], hazard of a criminal conviction [hazard ratio (HR) 1.51, 95% CI 1.34-1.68] and odds of chronic ASB (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.25-1.99). SDP robustly predicted most assessments of ASB while controlling for measured covariates. When siblings exposed to differing levels of SDP were compared, however, all of the associations were attenuated and were not statistically significant: adolescent-reported mean ASB (ratio of means 0.86, 95% CI 0.74-1.01), high ASB (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.41-1.12), criminal conviction (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.66-1.44) and chronic ASB (OR 0.80, 95% CI 0.46-1.38). CONCLUSIONS The results strongly suggest that familial factors account for the correlation between SDP and offspring adolescent ASB, rather than a putative causal environmental influence of SDP.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Offspring of patients with schizophrenia exhibit poorer school performance compared with offspring of non-schizophrenic parents. We aimed to elucidate the mechanisms behind this association. METHOD We linked longitudinal national population registers in Sweden and compared school performance among offspring of schizophrenic parents with offspring of non-schizophrenic parents (1 439 215 individuals with final grades from compulsory school 1988-2006). To investigate the mechanisms, we studied offspring of schizophrenic patients and controls within the same extended families. We investigated genetic effects by stratifying analyses of parent-child associations according to genetic relatedness (half-cousins, full cousins and half-siblings). Environmental effects were investigated by comparing school performance of offspring of schizophrenic fathers and of schizophrenic mothers, respectively, and by stratifying the analyses according to environmental relatedness while controlling genetic relatedness (paternal and maternal half-cousins, paternal and maternal half-siblings). RESULTS Offspring of parents with schizophrenia had poorer overall school performance than unrelated offspring of non-schizophrenic parents (-0.31 s.d.). Variability in genetic relatedness greatly moderated the strength of the within-family association (β=-0.23 within exposure-discordant half-cousins, β=-0.13 within exposure-discordant full cousins, β=0.04 within exposure-discordant half-siblings), while no evidence was found that the environment affected offspring school performance. CONCLUSIONS Genetic factors account for poorer school performance in children of parents with schizophrenia. This supports that cognitive deficits found in individuals with schizophrenia and their relatives might be genetically inherited. Early detection of prodromal signs and impaired functioning of offspring of patients with schizophrenia could lead to earlier and better tailored interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Jundong
- Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
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Singh AL, D'Onofrio BM, Slutske WS, Turkheimer E, Emery RE, Harden KP, Heath AC, Madden PAF, Statham DJ, Martin NG. Parental depression and offspring psychopathology: a children of twins study. Psychol Med 2011; 41:1385-1395. [PMID: 21054918 PMCID: PMC3119509 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291710002059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Associations between parental depression and offspring affective and disruptive disorders are well documented. Few genetically informed studies have explored the processes underlying intergenerational associations. METHOD A semi-structured interview assessing DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders was administered to twins (n=1296) from the Australian Twin Register (ATR), their spouses (n=1046) and offspring (n=2555). We used the Children of Twins (CoT) design to delineate the extent to which intergenerational associations were consistent with a causal influence or due to genetic confounds. RESULTS In between-family analyses, parental depression was associated significantly with offspring depression [hazard ratio (HR) 1.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20-1.93] and conduct disorder (CD; HR 2.27, CI 1.31-3.93). Survival analysis indicated that the intergenerational transmission of depression is consistent with a causal (environmental) inference, with a significant intergenerational association in offspring of discordant monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs (HR 1.39, CI 1.00-1.94). Logistic regression analysis suggested that the parental depression-offspring CD association was due to shared genetic liability in the parents and offspring. No intergenerational association was found when comparing the offspring of discordant MZ twins [odds ratio (OR) 1.41, CI 0.63-3.14], but offspring of discordant dizygotic (DZ) twins differed in their rates of CD (OR 2.53, CI 0.95-6.76). All findings remained after controlling for several measured covariates, including history of depression and CD in the twins' spouses. CONCLUSIONS The mechanisms underlying associations between parental depression and offspring psychopathology seem to differ depending on the outcome. The results are consistent with a causal environmental role of parental depression in offspring depression whereas common genetic factors account for the association of parental depression and offspring CD.
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Affiliation(s)
- A L Singh
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
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D'Onofrio BM, Eaves LJ, Murrelle L, Maes HH, Spilka B. Understanding biological and social influences on religious affiliation, attitudes, and behaviors: a behavior genetic perspective. J Pers 1999; 67:953-84. [PMID: 10637988 DOI: 10.1111/1467-6494.00079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 125] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Although the transmission of religiousness has been assumed to be purely cultural, behavior genetic studies have demonstrated that genetic factors play a role in the individual differences in some religious traits. This article reviews the extant behavior genetic literature and presents new analyses from the "Virginia 30,000" on the causes of variation in religious affiliation, attitudes, and practices, and relates these to personality as construed by Eysenck. Results indicate that religious affiliation is primarily a culturally transmitted phenomenon, whereas religious attitudes and practices are moderately influenced by genetic factors. Further, Eysenck's personality traits do not mediate genetic influences on religiousness, but significant negative genetic correlations are found between church attendance and liberal sexual attitudes. Implications and possibilities for future studies are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- B M D'Onofrio
- Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298-0003, USA
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D'Onofrio BM, Murrelle L, Eaves LJ, McCullough ME, Landis JL, Maes HH. Adolescent religiousness and its influence on substance use: preliminary findings from the Mid-Atlantic School Age Twin Study. Twin Res 1999; 2:156-68. [PMID: 10480750 DOI: 10.1375/136905299320566022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Research has consistently shown that religiousness is associated with lower levels of alcohol and drug use, but little is known about the nature of adolescent religiousness or the mechanisms through which it influences problem behavior in this age group. This paper presents preliminary results from the Mid-Atlantic School Age Twin Study, a prospective, population-based study of 6-18-year-old twins and their mothers. Factor analysis of a scale developed to characterize adolescent religiousness, the Religious Attitudes and Practices Inventory (RAPI), revealed three factors: theism, religious/spiritual practices, and peer religiousness. Twin correlations and univariate behavior-genetic models for these factors and a measure of belief that drug use is sinful reveal in 357 twin pairs that common environmental factors significantly influence these traits, but a minor influence of genetic factors could not be discounted. Correlations between the multiple factors of adolescent religiousness and substance use, comorbid problem behavior, mood disorders, and selected risk factors for substance involvement are also presented. Structural equation modeling illustrates that specific religious beliefs about the sinfulness of drugs and level of peer religiousness mediate the relationship between theistic beliefs and religious/spiritual practices on substance use. Limitations and future analyses are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- B M D'Onofrio
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298-0003, USA
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