CHANGES IN HERITABILITY ACROSS INCREASING LEVELS OF BEHAVIOR PROBLEMSIN YOUNG TWINS

Citation
H. Gjone et al., CHANGES IN HERITABILITY ACROSS INCREASING LEVELS OF BEHAVIOR PROBLEMSIN YOUNG TWINS, Behavior genetics, 26(4), 1996, pp. 419-426
Citations number
34
Categorie Soggetti
Psychology,"Behavioral Sciences","Genetics & Heredity
Journal title
ISSN journal
00018244
Volume
26
Issue
4
Year of publication
1996
Pages
419 - 426
Database
ISI
SICI code
0001-8244(1996)26:4<419:CIHAIL>2.0.ZU;2-Z
Abstract
The present study addresses the issue of differential heritability wit h increasing severity of parent-reported internalizing and externalizi ng behavior problems assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist. The sam ple includes 526 identical and 389 fraternal same-sexed twin pairs fro m five national birth cohorts, aged 5-6, 8-9, and 12-15 years. Heritab ility (h(2)), common environment (c(2)), and changes in these paramete rs as a function of proband score were analyzed by multiple regression models (Cherny et al., 1992). Internalizing and externalizing behavio r showed significant heritability. A small increment in h(2) and a red uction of c(2) with increasing severity of externalizing behavior were independent of sex and age. For internalizing behavior h(2) increased and c(2) declined with increasing severity for the 5-6 and 8-9 year o lds. Logarithmic transformation of scores lowered h(2) and increased c (2), particularly for externalizing behavior. The changes in heritabil ity with severity were nonsignificant for the transformed variables.