Buchwald D

A twin study of differences in the response of plasma ghrelin to a milkshake preload in restrained eaters

Myhre R, Kratz M, Goldberg J, Polivy J, Melhorn S, Buchwald D, Cummings DE, Schur EA Genetic, physiological, and psychological factors can affect food intake, but twin studies can distinguish inherited from environmental contributors. We examined the influence of attempted cognitive control of eating (“restrained eating”) on levels of appetite-regulating hormones. Sixteen female, monozygotic twin pairs, […]

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 […]

Salivary cortisol and cold pain sensitivity in female twins

Godfrey KM, Strachan E, Dansie E, Crofford LJ, Buchwald D, Goldberg J, Poeschla B, Succop A, Noonan C, Afari N There is a dearth of knowledge about the link between cortisol and pain sensitivity. We examined the association of salivary cortisol with indices of cold pain sensitivity in 198 female twins and explored the role of […]

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 […]

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 […]

The University of Washington Twin Registry: Poised for the next generation of twin research

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 […]

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; […]

Genetic and environmental influences on residential location in the US

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 […]

The comorbidity of self-reported chronic fatigue syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic symptoms

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 […]

Temporomandibular disorder-type pain and migraine headache in women: a preliminary twin study

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 […]

Acquired differences in brain responses among monozygotic twins discordant for restrained eating

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 […]

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 […]

Depression and obesity: Do shared genes explain the relationship?

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 […]

Chronic pain, overweight, and obesity: Findings from a community-based twin registry

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 […]

Genetic and environmental influences on restrained eating behavior

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 […]

Building a Unique National Community-Based Twin Repository

PI: Dedra BuchwaldProject Number: 1RC2HL103416Project Dates: 9/30/2009–7/31/2011 The value of twin studies is well recognized at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) where an estimated 255 twin studies were funded in 2009. Twin studies have provided insights into the epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, and natural history of diverse disease and developmental endpoints. However, a substantial proportion of […]

A twin study of depression and migraine: Evidence for a shared genetic vulnerability

Schur E, Noonan C, Buchwald D, Goldberg J, Afari N To determine if shared genetic or environmental vulnerabilities could underlie depression and migraine. Depression and migraine headaches frequently coexist and their comorbidity may be due to shared etiologies. Female twins in the University of Washington Twin Registry responded to a mailed survey regarding their health history. Depression […]

Are post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and temporomandibular pain associated? Findings from a community-based twin registry

Afari N, Wen Y, Buchwald D, Goldberg J, Plesh O The goals of this study were to determine if symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are related to the pain of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in a community-based sample of female twin pairs, and if so, to ascertain if the association is due to the presence […]