Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T18:33:06.720Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Minnesota Twin Family Registry: Some Initial Findings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

D.T. Lykken ,
T.J. Bouchard Jr. ,
M. McGue  and
A. Tellegen
D.T. Lykken*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
T.J. Bouchard Jr.
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
M. McGue
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
A. Tellegen
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
*
Department of Psychology, Elliott Hall, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A birth-record based Registry is nearing completion of some 8,000 pairs of twins born in Minnesota from 1936 to 1955, plus some 1,200 pairs of male twins born 1971-81. The middle-aged twins were recruited with graded incentives so that ease of recruitment could be measured; it was found that pairs concordant for ease of recruitment were no more similar than discordant pairs in education, socioeconomic status (SES), or a variety of personality and interest factors, ie, that selection bias may not be a problem in research with adult twins when contacts are only by mail. A 50% decrease in neonatal mortality from 1936-55 to 1971-81 was associated with an increase from 3.5 to 4.0 per thousand in the frequency of viable MZ twin births. The broad heritability of SES, educational attainment, fecundity, and risk for divorce ranges from 0.30 to 0.50, although all 4 variables are plainly multifactorial and the latter 2 both involve variance contributed by a second person. Investigators interested in making use of this research resource are invited to submit proposals.

Keywords

TwinsRegistriesRecruitment biasBirth rateBirthweightPerinatal mortalityDivorce riskFecundity
Type
Research Article
Information
Acta geneticae medicae et gemellologiae: twin research , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , January 1990 , pp. 35 - 70
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1990

References

REFERENCES

1.Allen, G (1988): U.S. regional changes in twinning rates. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 37:307–311.Google Scholar
2.Arvey, RD, Bouchard, TJ Jr, Segal, NL, Abraham, LM (1989): Job satisfaction: Environmental and genetic components. J App Psychol 74:187–192.Google Scholar
3.Bouchard, TJ Jr (1984): Twins reared together and apart: What they tell us about human diversity. In Fox, S.W. (ed): Individuality and Determinism. New York: Plenum, pp. 147–184.Google Scholar
4.Bouchard, TJ Jr (1986): Diversity, development and determinism: A report on identical twins reared apart. In Amelang, M (ed) Proceedings of the meetings of the German Psychological Association - 1986. Heidelberg, Germany.Google Scholar
5.Bresser, WMA, Eriksson, AW, Kostense, PJ, Parisi, P (1987). Increasing trend in the monozygotic twinning rate. Acta Genet Med Gemellol, 36: 397–408.Google Scholar
6.Buhner, MG (1970): The Biology of Twinning in Man. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
7.Carmichael, CM, Lykken, DT (1989): Marital resemblance for self-reported personality: An analysis of twins and their spouses. Presented at 1988 meetings of the Behav Genet Assoc.Google Scholar
8.Cederlof, R, Friberg, L, Jonsson, E, Kaij, L (1961): Studies on similarity diagnosis in twins with the aid of mailed questionnaires. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 11:338–362.Google ScholarPubMed
9.Cederlof, R, Rantasalo, I, Floderus-Myrhed, B, Hammar, N, Kaprio, J, Koskenvuo, M, Langinvainio, H, Sarna, S (1982): A cross-national epidemiological resource: The Swedish and Finnish cohort studies of like-sexed twins. Int J Epidemiol 11:387–390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Cohen, DJ, Dibble, E, Grawe, JM, Pollin, W (1975): Reliably separating identical from fraternal twins. Arch Gen Psychiat 32:1371–1375.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Doherty, JDH (1988): Perinatal mortality in twins, Australia, 1973-1980: I. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 37:313–319.Google Scholar
12.Doherty, JDH, Lancaster, PAL (1986): The secular trend of twinning in Australia, 1953-1982. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 35:61–76.Google Scholar
13.Eaves, LJ (1982): The utility of twins. In Anderson, E, Hauser, W, Penry, J, Sing, C (eds): Genetic Basis of the Epilepsies. New York: Raven Press.Google Scholar
14.Eaves, LJ, Eysenck, HJ, Martin, NG (1989): Genes, Culture, and Personality. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
15.Edwards, JH (1969): Familial predisposition in man. Brit Med Bull 25:58–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Elwood, JM (1983): The end of the drop in twinning rates? Lancet i:470.Google Scholar
17.Galton, F (1875): The history of twins as a criterion of the relative powers of nature and nurture. J Roy Anthro Inst 5:391–406.Google Scholar
18.Gottesman, II, Carey, G (1983): Extracting meaning and direction from twin data. Psychiat Dev 1:35–50.Google Scholar
19.Grayson, DA (1989): Twins reared together: Minimizing shared environmental effects. Behav Genet 19:593–604.Google Scholar
20.Hemon, D, Berger, C, Lazar, P (1981) Some observations concerning the decline of dizygotic twining rate in France between 1901 and 1968. In Gedda, L., Parisi, P., Nance, W. (eds): Twin Research: Part A. Twin Biology and Multiple Pregnancy. New York: Alan R. Liss.Google Scholar
21.Hollingshead, A, Redlich, FC (1958): Social class and mental disease. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
22.Hrubec, Z, Robinette, CD (1983): The study of human twins in medical research. New Eng J Med 310:435–441.Google Scholar
23.James, WH (1972): Secular changes in dizygotic twining rates. J Biosoc Sci 4:427–434.Google Scholar
24.Li, CC (1987): A genetical model for emergenesis. Amer J Hum Genet 41:517–523.Google ScholarPubMed
25.Lykken, DT (1978): The diagnosis of zygosity in twins. Behav Genet 8:437–473.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26.Lykken, DT (1982): Research with twins; The concept of emergenesis. Psychophys 19:361–373.Google Scholar
27.Lykken, DT, McGue, M, Tellegen, A (1988): Recruitment bias in twin research: The rule of two-thirds reconsidered. Behav Genet 17:343–362.Google Scholar
28.Lykken, DT, Tellegen, A, Iacono, WG (1982): EEG spectra in twins: Evidence for a neglected mechanism of genetic determination. Physiol Psychol 10:60–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
29.Lykken, DT, Tellegen, ADeRubeis, R (1978): Volunteer bias in twin research: The rule of two-thirds. Soc Biol 25:1–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30.Lykken, DT, Tellegen, A, Thorkelson, K (1974): Genetic determination of EEG frequency spectra. Biol Psychol 1:245–259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31.McGue, M, Bouchard, TJ Jr (1984): Adjustment of twin data for the effects of age and sex. Behav Gen 14:325–343.Google Scholar
32.Michalowicz, BS (1988): Periodontal disease in twins. Master of Science Thesis, University of Minnesota.Google Scholar
33.Price, B (1950): Primary biases of twin studies. Amer J Hum Gen 2:293–351.Google ScholarPubMed
34.Rose, RJ, Koskenvuo, M, Kaprio, S, Sarna, S, Langinvainio, H (1988): Shared genes, shared experiences, and similarity of personality: Data from 14,288 adult Finnish cotwins. J Pers Soc Psychol 54:161–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35.Sarna, S, Kaprio, J, Sistonen, P, Koskenvuo, M. (1978): Diagnosis of twin zygosity by mailed questionnaire. Hum Hered 28:241–254.Google Scholar
36.Tambs, K, Sundet, JM, Magnus, P, Berg, K. (1989): No recruitment, bias for questionnaire data related to IQ in classical twin studies. Pers Ind Diff 10:269–271.Google Scholar
37.Tambs, K, Sundet, JM, Magnus, P, Berg, K (1989): Genetic and environmental contributions to the covariance between occupational status, educational attainment, and IQ: A study of twins. Behav Genet 19:209–221.Google Scholar
38.Tellegen, A (1982): A Manual for the Differential Personality Questionnaire. Unpub. M.S., University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.Google Scholar
39.Tellegen, A (1985): Structure of mood and personality and their relevance to assessing anxiety, with an emphasis on self-report. In Tuma, AH, Maser, JD (eds): Anxiety and the Anxiety Disorders. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
40.Tellegen, A, Waller, N (in press): Exploring personality through test construction: Development of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. In Briggs, SR, Cheek, JM (eds): Personality Measures: Development and Evaluation, Vol 1. Greenwhich, CN: JAI Press.Google Scholar
41.Vlietinck, R, Derom, R, Neale, N, Maes, H, van Loon, H, Derom, C, Thiery, M (1989): Genetic and environmental variation in the birth weight of twins. Behav Genet 19:151–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42.Waller, N, Lykken, DT, Tellegen, A (in press): Occupational interests, leisure time interests, and personality: Three domains or one? Findings from the Minnesota Twin Registry. In Dawes, R, Lubinsky, D (eds): Wise Counsel: Essays in Honor of Lloyd Lofquist. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
43.Waller, NG, Lilienfeld, S, Tellegen, A, Lykken, D (in press): The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire: Structural validity and comparison with the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. Multivar Behav Res.Google Scholar
44.Waller, NG, Kojetin, BA, Bouchard, TJ Jr, Lykken, DT, Tellegen, A (1990): Genetic and environmental inluences on religious interests, attitudes, and values: A study of twins reared apart and together. Psychol Sci 1:1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
45.Watson, P, Campbell, DM (1986): Preterm deliveries in twin pregnancies in Oxford. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 35:193–199.Google Scholar
46.Zonderman, AB (1982): Differential heritability and consistency: A reanalysis of the NMSQT CPI data. Behav Genet 12:193–208.Google Scholar