26 research outputs found
The observed association between maternal anxiety and adolescent asthma : children of twin design suggest familial effects
BACKGROUND: Previous studies indicate that maternal anxiety is associated with
asthma in the adolescent child, but mechanisms are unclear. OBJECTIVE: To
investigate the association between maternal anxiety and maternal, self- and
register-based report of asthma in the adolescent child, and whether the
association remains after control of familial confounding (shared environmental
and genetic factors). METHOD: From the Twin and Offspring Study of Sweden, 1691
mothers (1058 twins) and their adolescent child were included. The association
between maternal self-reported anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and
Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP) somatic or psychic anxiety) and asthma
based on subjective (maternal or child report) or objective (register-based
diagnosis and medication) measures were analysed using logistic regression. The
children-of-twins design was used to explore whether genes or environment
contribute to the association. RESULTS: Maternal BAI anxiety (OR 2.02, CI
1.15-3.55) was significantly associated with adolescent asthma reported by the
mother. Maternal KSP somatic anxiety (OR 1.74, CI 1.04-2.91) and psychic anxiety
(OR 1.74, CI 1.05-2.86) was significantly associated with breathlessness reported
by the adolescent child. In contrast, maternal anxiety was not associated with
increased risk for the register-based outcomes of asthma diagnosis or medication.
The results remained also after adjusting for covariates and the
children-of-twins analyses which indicate that the association was due to
familial confounding. CONCLUSIONS: We found some associations between maternal
anxiety and subjectively reported offspring asthma or breathlessness which may be
due to familial effects. A likely candidate for explaining this familial
confounding is heritable personality traits associated with both anxiety and
subjective measures of asthma.NonePublishe
Genetic Effects on Women's Positive Mental Health: Do Marital Relationships and Social Support Matter?
Interpersonal relationships are important factors in mental health. A genetically sensitive design was used to examine associations among marital quality, adequacy of social support, and 2 aspects of positive mental health in a sample of 652 Swedish twin women and their families. There were 3 main findings. First, the covariance between relationships and positive mental health was partially accounted for by common genetic variance. Second, nonshared environmental influences played a substantial role in the covariance among the 3 constructs, with evidence for husbands being a source of this influence. Finally, different patterns of associations were found between relationships and 2 aspects of mental health, well-being and global self-worth, which shows how seemingly similar constructs can be differentially associated with relationships. Together, these findings emphasize the importance of genetically informed studies in family research and the role of the environment and interpersonal relationships in promoting and improving mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2005 APA, all rights reserved
Accounting for depressive symptoms in women: a twin study of associations with interpersonal relationships
Background: This study examined how interpersonal relationships, specifically marital quality and adequacy of social support, are associated with depressive symptoms among women. Methods: A sample of 326 female monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs and their spouses was drawn from the Swedish Twin Registry. Associations among the three variables were evaluated by comparing similarities among monozygotic and dizygotic female twin pairs. Results: Interpersonal relationships contributed between 18% and 31% of the variance for depressive symptoms in women. Associations among the three variables were accounted for by genetic influences when women's reports were used. Non-shared environmental influences were important for the association between marital quality and depressive symptoms when a combination of husband and wife reports of marital quality were used. Limitations: The data is cross-sectional and the generalizability of these findings to depressive symptoms in men or to individuals with major depression is not clear. Conclusions: These findings indicate important associations among marital quality, social support and depressive symptoms in women, which should be taken into consideration for prevention and intervention strategies targeting depression
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Marital Relationships
As most adults will marry at least once during their lifetime, studying marital quality and its predictors is of great importance. The current study addresses (a) the extent of agreement between husbands and wives on their marital quality, (b) genetic and environmental sources of individual differences on spouse reports of marital quality, and (c) the extent to which genetic and environmental influences account for overlap of spouse reports on marital quality. Adult Swedish twin women and their partners participated in this study. Genotype-environment (GE) correlations were found for marital quality, suggesting that wives' genetically influenced characteristics set a tone for the marriage. Wives' genetically influenced characteristics also accounted for overlap of spouse reports of marital quality. Finally, nonshared environmental influences were the primary contributor to both individual reports and the overlap of spouse reports, an interesting deviation from findings of behavior genetic studies of other types of relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Mothering of Adolescents: A Comparison of Two Samples
This study examined 2 samples of adolescents and mothers using a child-based design (Nonshared Environment in Adolescent Development [NEAD] project, N = 395 families) and a parent-based design (Twin Moms [TM] project, N = 236 twin family pairs) to compare genetic and environmental influences on mothering. For both samples, the same measures of positivity, negativity, control, and monitoring were used. The use of matched child-based and parent-based samples enabled passive and nonpassive genotype-environment (GE) correlations to be approximated, providing information about process. Passive GE correlations were suggested for mother's positivity and monitoring. For mother's negativity and control, primarily nonpassive GE correlations were suggested. In several cases, both types of GE correlation were indicated. Finally, observer ratings of negativity and monitoring were influenced only by environmental factors
Understanding the Role of Personality in Explaining Associations Between Marital Quality and Parenting
Analyses assessed the degrees to which personality accounts for associations between marital quality and parenting and mediates genetic contributions to these relationships. Participants included 318 male and 544 female same-sex twin pairs from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden. All twins completed self-report measures of marital quality and personality (anxiousness, aggression, sociability). Composite measures of parent negativity and warmth were derived from the twins' and their adolescent children's ratings of the twins' disciplinary styles and the emotional tone of the parent-child relationship. Observational ratings of marital quality and parenting were also obtained for a subset of twins. Personality characteristics explained 33% to 42% of the covariance between reported marital quality and parenting and 26% to 28% of the covariance between observed marital quality and parenting. For both sets of analyses, personality accounted for more than half of the genetic contributions to covariance between marital quality and parenting. Results indicate that personality significantly contributes to associations between marital quality and parenting and that personality is an important path through which genetic factors contribute to family relationships