Health Survey

The UW Twin Registry Health Survey was sent from 2006-2008 to members of the Registry who had enrolled by 2006. It was mailed to about 2,300 twin pairs. The Health Survey was used as a follow-up to the Enrollment Survey and included many of the same questions. It also included new questions about general health, eating behaviors, sleep habits, specific health conditions, lifestyle habits, and emotions. Respondents were entered into a raffle after they submitted the survey.

Education in Twins and Their Parents Across Birth Cohorts Over 100 years: An Individual-Level Pooled Analysis of 42-Twin Cohorts

Silventoinen K, Jelenkovic A, Hopper JL, Busjahn A, Cozen W, Mack TM, Sumathipala A, Harris JR, Goldberg JH, Harden KP, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Turkheimer E, Kaprio J, et al. Whether monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins differ from each other in a variety of phenotypes is important for genetic twin modeling and for inferences […]

Differences in genetic and environmental variation in adult body mass index by sex, age, time period, and region: an individual-based pooled analysis of 40 twin cohorts

Silventoinen K, Jelenkovic A, Cozen W, Mack T, Sumathipala A, Christensen K, Busjahn A, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Goldberg JH, Hopper JL, Sung J, Turkheimer E, Kaprio J, et al. Background  Genes and the environment contribute to variation in adult body mass index [BMI (in kg/m2)], but factors modifying these variance components are poorly understood. […]

Does the sex of one’s co-twin affect height and BMI in adulthood? A study of dizygotic adult twins from 31 cohorts

Bogl LH, Jelenkovic A, Christensen K, Cozen W, Mack TM, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Hopper JL, Silventoinen K, Kaprio J, et al. Background The comparison of traits in twins from opposite-sex (OS) and same-sex (SS) dizygotic twin pairs is considered a proxy measure of prenatal hormone exposure. To examine possible prenatal hormonal influences on anthropometric […]

Genetic and environmental influences on adult human height across birth cohorts from 1886 to 1994

Jelenkovic A, Sumathipala A, Christensen K, Hopper JL, Cozen W, Mack TM, Sung J, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Harris JR, Goldberg JH, Kaprio J, Silventoinen K, et al. Human height variation is determined by genetic and environmental factors, but it remains unclear whether their influences differ across birth-year cohorts. We conducted an individual-based pooled analysis […]

Genetic and environmental effects on body mass index from infancy to the onset of adulthood: an individual-based pooled analysis of 45 twin cohorts participating in the COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) study

Silventoinen K, Jelenkovic A, Busjahn A, Cozen W, Mack TM, Craig JM, Harden KP, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Goldberg JH, Kaprio J, et al. Background Both genetic and environmental factors are known to affect body mass index (BMI), but detailed understanding of how their effects differ during childhood and adolescence is lacking. Objectives We analyzed […]

Genetic and environmental influences on height from infancy to early adulthood: An individual-based pooled analysis of 45 twin cohorts

Jelenkovic A, Craig JM, Sumathipala A, Harden KP, Cozen W, Mack TM, Hopper JL, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Sung J, Harris JR, Busjahn A, Goldberg JH, Kaprio J, Silventoinen K, et al. Height variation is known to be determined by both genetic and environmental factors, but a systematic description of how their influences differ by sex, age and […]

Zygosity Differences in Height and Body Mass Index of Twins From Infancy to Old Age: A Study of the CODATwins Project

Jelenkovic A, Craig JM, Sumathipala A, Harden KP, Cozen W, Mack TM, Hopper JL, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Sung J, Harris JR, Busjahn A, Goldberg JH, Kaprio J, Silventoinen K, et al. A trend toward greater body size in dizygotic (DZ) than in monozygotic (MZ) twins has been suggested by some but not all studies, and this difference […]

The CODATwins Project

The Cohort Description of Collaborative Project of Development of Anthropometrical Measures in Twins to Study Macro-Environmental Variation in Genetic and Environmental Effects on Anthropometric Traits Silventoinen K, Craig JM, Sumathipala A, Harden KP, Cozen W, Mack TM, Hopper JL, Duncan GE, Buchwald D, Sung J, Harris JR, Busjahn A, Goldberg JH, Kaprio J, et al. […]

Does caregiving cause psychological distress? The case for familial and genetic vulnerabilities in female twins

Vitaliano P, Strachan E, Dansie E, Goldberg J, Buchwald D Informal caregiving can be deleterious to mental health, but research results are inconsistent and may reflect an interaction between caregiving and vulnerability to stress.We examined psychological distress among 1,228 female caregiving and non-caregiving twins. By examining monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs discordant for caregiving, we […]

Moderation of Genetic and Environmental Influences on Diurnal Preference by Age in Adult Twins

Barclay NL, Watson NF, Goldberg J, Buchwald D Diurnal preference changes across the lifespan. However, the mechanisms underlying this age-related shift are poorly understood. The aim of this twin study was to determine the extent to which genetic and environmental influences on diurnal preference are moderated by age. Seven hundred and sixty-eight monozygotic and 674 dizygotic […]

Sleep duration and depressive symptoms: a gene-environment interaction

Watson NF, Harden KP, Buchwald D, Vitiello MV, Pack AI, Strachan E, Goldberg J We used quantitative genetic models to assess whether sleep duration modifies genetic and environmental influences on depressive symptoms. Participants were 1,788 adult twins from 894 same-sex twin pairs (192 male and 412 female monozygotic [MZ] pairs, and 81 male and 209 female […]

A Twin Study of Genetic Influences on Diurnal Preference and Risk for Alcohol Use Outcomes

Watson NF, Buchwald D, Harden KP The population-based University of Washington Twin Registry (UWTR) was used to examine (1) genetic influences on chronobiology and (2) whether these genetic factors influence alcohol-use phenotypes. We used a reduced Horne-Östberg Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ) to survey UWTR participants for diurnal preference. Frequency and quantity of alcohol use, as well as […]

Age at dieting onset, body mass index, and dieting practices: A twin study

Enriquez E, Duncan GE, Schur E Using a twin study design, we sought to determine whether an early age at dieting onset is a risk factor for higher adult body mass index (BMI) or use of risky dieting practices, independent of genetic and familial factors. Female twins ages 18-60 years (N=950) from the University of Washington […]

Current Smoking as a Predictor of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain in Young Adult Twins

Holley AL, Law EF, Tham SW, Myaing M, Noonan C, Strachan E, Palermo TM Chronic pain is common during adolescence and young adulthood and is associated with poor quality of life, depression, and functional disability. Recognizing that chronic pain has significant consequences, it is important to identify modifiable health behaviors that may place young adults […]

Can familial factors account for the association of body mass index with poor mental health in men or women?

Schur E, Godfrey KM, Dansie E, Buchwald D, Pagoto S, Afari N This study examined if associations between body mass index (BMI) and mental and physical health were independent of genetic and familial factors. Data from 2831 twins (66% female) were used in an epidemiological co-twin control design with measures of BMI and mental and physical […]

Sleep duration and body mass index in twins: a gene-environment interaction

Watson NF, Harden KP, Buchwald D, Vitiello MV, Pack AI, Weigle DS, Goldberg J To examine whether sleep duration modifies genetic and environmental influences on body mass index (BMI), investigators conducted a genotype-environment interaction twin study. the dataset included twin pairs from the University of Washington Twin Registry (1,088 pairs, 604 monozygotic, 484 dizygotic; 66% female; […]

Is circadian type associated with sleep duration in twins?

Watson NF, Buchwald D, Noonan C, Vitiello MV, Pack AI, Goldberg J We used the community-based University of Washington Twin Registry to investigate the genetic association between circadian type and sleep duration. Habitual sleep duration was obtained by self-report and circadian type was measured using a reduced 5-item Horne–Östberg Morningness–Eveningness questionnaire. Univariate and bivariate genetic […]

The association of restrained eating with weight change over time in a community-based sample of twins

Schur EA, Heckbert SR, Goldberg JH We investigated the association of restrained eating with BMI and weight gain while controlling for the influence of genes and shared environment. Participants were 1,587 twins enrolled in the University of Washington Twin Registry (UWTR). Restrained eating was assessed by the Herman and Polivy Restraint Scale. Height and weight […]

Psychological distress in twins with urological symptoms

Wright LJ, Noonan C, Ahumada S, Rodriguez MAB, Buchwald D, Afari N Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS) is a chronic pain condition with unclear underlying etiology. Our objectives were to determine whether psychological distress was higher in twins with urological symptoms commonly found in IC/PBS than in twins without, and if so, did familial influences […]

A twin study of sleep duration and body mass index

Watson NF, Buchwald D, Vitiello M, Noonan C, Goldberg J To determine the relative importance of genetic and environmental contributions to the association between sleep duration and body mass index (BMI), twins from the University of Washington Twin Registry, a community-based sample of U.S. twins, provided self-reported height and weight for BMI calculation and habitual […]