Hurvitz PM, Moudon AV, Kang B, Saelens BE, Duncan GE Precise measurement of physical activity is important for health research, providing a better understanding of activity location, type, duration, and intensity. This article describes a novel suite of tools to measure and analyze physical activity behaviors in spatial epidemiology research. We use individual-level, high-resolution, objective […]
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 […]
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 […]
Mostoufi S, Strachan E, Chopko L, Succop A, Martinez B, Ahumada S, Afari N To examine the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and health perception in adulthood, and to explore the contribution of shared familial factors to these associations. Data were collected from 180 female twins (90 pairs) from the community-based University of Washington […]
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 […]
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 […]
Strachan E, Hunt C, Afari N, Duncan G, Noonan C, Schur E, Watson N, Goldberg J, Buchwald D The University of Washington Twin Registry is a unique community-based registry of twin pairs who join specifically to participate in scientific research. It was founded in 2002 to serve as a resource for investigators throughout the scientific […]
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; […]
Duncan GE, Dansie EJ, Strachan E, Munsell M, Huang R, Vernez Moudon A, Goldberg J, Buchwald D We used a classical twin design and measures of neighborhood walkability and social deprivation, using each twin’s street address, to examine genetic and environmental influences on the residential location of 1389 same-sex pairs from a US community-based twin […]
Dansie EJ, Heppner P, Furberg H, Goldberg J, Buchwald D, Afari N Data from primary care and community samples suggest higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). This study investigated the co-occurrence of CFS, PTSD, and trauma symptoms and assessed the contribution of familial factors to the association of […]
Plesh O, Noonan C, Buchwald DS, Goldberg J, Afari N To determine whether shared genetic influences are responsible for the association between pain from temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and migraine headache. Data were obtained from 1,236 monozygotic and 570 dizygotic female twin pairs from the University of Washington Twin Registry. TMD pain was assessed with a question […]
Schur EA, Kleinhans NM, Goldberg J, Buchwald DS, Polivy J, Del Parigi A, Maravilla KR We studied whether self-reported intent to exert cognitive control over eating was associated with differences in brain response to food cues, independent of genetic background. Subjects were ten pairs of identical twins in which one twin was a restrained eater […]
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 […]
Afari N, Mostoufi S, Noonan C, Poeschla B, Succop A, Chopko L, Strachan E Systemic inflammation and pain sensitivity may contribute to the development and maintenance of chronic pain conditions. We examined the relationship between systemic inflammation as measured by C-reactive protein (CRP) and cold pain sensitivity in 198 female twins from the University of Washington […]
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 […]
Afari N, Noonan C, Goldberg J, Roy-Byrne P, Schur E, Golnari G, Buchwald D Studies have found a modest association between depression and obesity, especially in women. Given the substantial genetic contribution to both depression and obesity, we sought to determine whether shared genetic influences are responsible for the association between these 2 conditions. Data were […]
Wright LJ, Schur E, Noonan C, Ahumada S, Buchwald D, Afari N Chronic pain and obesity, and their associated impairments, are major health concerns. We estimated the association of overweight and obesity with 5 distinct pain conditions and 3 pain symptoms, and examined whether familial influences explained these relationships. We used data collected from 3,471 twins […]
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 […]
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 […]
Schur E, Noonan C, Polivy J, Goldberg J, Buchwald D We examined the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences to restrained eating. Restrained eating was assessed by the Restraint Scale in a survey mailed to all twins enrolled in the University of Washington Twin Registry. We used structural equation modeling to estimate genetic and non-genetic […]
