Ally Avery

Background: Evidence suggests that depression and anxiety disorders are genetically based. Although symptoms of these internalizing disorders tend to correlate, the degree to which the related symptoms are heritable is unclear. This overlap has been conceptualized as Anxious Misery and existing research examining similar constructs of negative affect has revealed moderate heritability. However, it is […]

Between March 27 and April 5, 2020, we administered an online survey asking participants a series of questions regarding the changes of health-related behaviors and health outcomes during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US. Considering that strategies aimed to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, such as physical distancing and lock downs, may […]

Background: Physical distancing and other COVID-19 pandemic mitigation strategies may have unintended consequences on a number of health behaviors and health outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between perceived change in physical activity or exercise and mental health outcomes over the short-term in response to COVID-19 mitigation strategies in a […]

We examined the item properties of the Two Peas Questionnaire (TPQ) among a sample of same-sex twin pairs from the Washington State Twin Registry. With the exception of the ‘two peas’ item, three of the mistakenness items showed differential item functioning. Results showed that the monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) pairs may differ in their […]

We investigated the heritability of educational attainment and how it differed between birth cohorts and cultural-geographic regions. A classical twin design was applied to pooled data from 28 cohorts representing 16 countries and including 193,518 twins with information on educational attainment at 25 years of age or older. Genetic factors explained the major part of […]

PI: Perry HystadProject number: R21ES031226Project dates: 7/17/2020-6/30/2021 Built environments directly influence health, for example through air pollution and noise exposures, and indirectly influence health through changing health-related behaviors, for which physical activity is a major contributor. Nearly all epidemiology studies examining the relationships between long-term built environment related exposures and health have relied solely on […]

In the follow-up survey, we asked participants to self-report the amount of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) they had in the past two week. We wondered if the amount of exercise people are doing during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with several mental health indicators.

We are happy to share that a manuscript using data from the affectionate communication study has been published. Within twin pairs, identical twins were more highly correlated for expressed and received affection than fraternal twins, suggesting genetic influences play a role in affection. Using an ACE model, which is used in twin studies to estimate […]

In the follow-up survey, we were interested in whether the number of individuals in a household during lock-down/shelter-in-place has an effect on people’s mental health status. We were particularly curious about whether individuals with children are more worried during this unprecedented time.

Siny Tsang, PhD siny.tsang@wsu.edu Publications

Shelby Tarutis, MPH shelby.tarutis@wsu.edu, 425-405-1766 Shelby Tarutis studied biochemistry and literature at The Evergreen State College (BS, 1976) and received her Master of Public Health in Health Services from the University of Washington (1996).  She received a Certificate in Executive Development from the UW Foster School of Business (2018).  She has experience with coordinating research […]

Elizabeth Blue, PhD em27@uw.edu, 206-685-4666 Dr. Blue studied Economics and Anthropology at Indiana University (BS, 2003), and Anthropology at the University of Utah (MS, 2005; Ph.D., 2008). Her graduate work focused on the principles of evolutionary and population genetics. She pursued training in statistical genetics as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington (2008). […]

Glen Duncan, PhD Dr. Duncan’s academic training is in physical education (BS, 1992, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania) and exercise physiology (MS, 1994, Ball State University; PhD, 1997, University of Tennessee). Following graduate school, he completed postdoctoral research training (1998-2002) and then joined the faculty at the University of Florida (2002-2003), both in the Department […]

Ally Avery, MS ally.avery@wsu.edu, 425-405-1765 Ms. Avery studied sociology at Western Washington University (BA, 2009) and received her Master of Science in Data Science from Northwestern University (2016). She has experience with all aspects of twin studies, including grant, budget, and protocol development, building and maintaining study databases, data collection, and data analysis.   Publications

The pervasive, damaging nature of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presents enormous clinical challenges. Understanding the relationship between patients’ perceptions of PTSD symptoms and resilient coping strategies may prompt investigation of clinical interventions that improve adaptive, resilient coping skills. In this study, we examined whether changes in resilient coping were related to changes over time in […]

This survey is being sent to parents of twins age 13 and younger. This survey will examine how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting families.

The purpose of this survey study is to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding social restrictions in place on the daily life and feelings of WSTR twin pairs. Given the widespread statewide social restrictions put in place, it is possible that people’s perceptions and normal interactions within their neighborhoods may have changed. […]

Purpose of the study In light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding social restrictions to society, we followed up with a sample of our participants to see how they are impacted by the recent events. We would like to thank the WSTR twins for their participation and continued support of the […]

In our recent COVID-19 survey, we asked participants several questions about their exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Most participants reported not having been diagnosed with COVID-19, with very few participants reported having household and/or family members diagnosed with COVID-19. However, 42.69% participants reported knowing at least one friend (and/or classmate) who was diagnosed with COVID-19. More […]

Using a twin study design, we explored the extent to which affectionate communication is a heritable behavioral trait. Participants (N = 928) were 464 adult twin pairs (229 monozygotic, 235 dizygotic) who provided data on their affectionate communication behaviors. Through ACE modeling, we determined that approximately 45% of the variance in trait expressed affectionate communication is heritable, whereas 21% […]