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A Twin Study of State and Trait Anxiety in Childhood and Adolescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1999

Lisa N. Legrand ,
Matt McGue  and
William G. Iacono
Lisa N. Legrand
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S.A.
Matt McGue
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S.A.
William G. Iacono
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Little research has addressed the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on subclinical levels of anxiety in children. Of the two twin studies to date, one concluded that measures of adolescents' self-reported trait anxiety were best explained by shared environmental factors (Thapar & McGuffin, 1995), while the second determined that approximately half the variance was attributable to genetic effects (Topolski et al., 1997). The present study, using a sample of 547 twin pairs, reached conclusions similar to those of Topolski et al. Heritability was estimated at 45%. Measures of state anxiety conformed more closely to Thapar and McGuffin's findings, with environmental factors accounting for the variance.

Keywords

Anxietybehavioural geneticsgeneticstwins
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines , Volume 40 , Issue 6 , September 1999 , pp. 953 - 958
Copyright
© 1999 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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