Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T02:40:05.773Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A Statistical Model and Analysis for Genetic and Environmental Effects in Responses From Twin-Family Studies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

James S. Williams*
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder
Hariharan Iyer
Affiliation:
Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins
*
Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, 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 statistical model and analysis for genetic and environmental effects in twin-family data are presented. The model is used to derive expressions for phenotypic correlations of 22 essential pair relationships in twin-family units. The analysis proceeds in two steps. First, differential effects of sex, generation, and sex-zygosity of twin-family units and correlations due to cluster sampling are eliminated from correlation data. Then, estimates and tests of model parameters are calculated from the adjusted data. The theory and methods were developed for a Swedish twin-family study of many behaviors possibly related to the smoking habit. There, it is important to screen for behaviors that clearly are under genetic control and to assess relative influences of various biological and social environments on the development of all behaviors. Height data from the Swedish study are used to illustrate concepts and methods presented in this paper.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The International Society for Twin Studies 1981

References

REFERENCES

1.Boyle, CR, Elston, RC (1979): Multifactorial genetic models for quantitative traits in humans. Biometrics 35:5568.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Cavalli-Sforza, LL, Bodmer, WF (1971): “The Genetics of Human Populations.” San Francisco: W. H. Freeman and Company.Google Scholar
3.Cederlöf, R (1966): The twin method in epidemiological studies on chronic diseases. (Doctoral Dissertation, Academick avhandling, Stockholm universitet, Stockholm).Google Scholar
4.Comrey, AL (1970): “Comrey Personality Scales Manual.” San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.Google Scholar
5.Crumpacker, DW, Cederlöf, F, Friberg, L, Kimberling, WJ, Sörenson, S, Vandenberg, SG, Williams, JS, McClearn, GE, Grever, B, Iyer, H, Krier, MJ, Pedersen, NL, Price, RA, Roulette, I (1980): A twin methodology for the study of genetic and environmental control of variation in human smoking behavior. Acta Genet Med Gemellol 28:173195.Google Scholar
6.Elston, RC, Rao, DC (1978): Statistical modeling and analysis in human genetics. Annu Rev Biophys Eng 7:253286.Google Scholar
7.Eysenck, HJ, Eysenck, SGB (1975): “Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.” London: Hodder and Stoughton.Google Scholar
8.Falconer, DS (1964): “Introduction to Quantitative Genetics,” Ed 2. New York: The Ronald Press Company.Google Scholar
9.Fisher, RA (1918): The correlation between relatives on the supposition of mendelian inheritance. Trans R Soc (Edinb) 42:321341.Google Scholar
10.Floderus, B (1974): Psychosocial factors in relation to coronary heart disease and associated risk factors. Nord Hyg Tidskr Suppl 6.Google Scholar
11.Kempthorne, O (1957): “An Introduction to Genetic Statistics.” Ames, Iowa: Iowa State University Press.Google Scholar
12.Medlund, P, Cederlöf, R, Floderus, B, Friberg, L, Sörensen, S (1976): A new Swedish twin registry. Acta Medica Scandinavia. Supplement 660.Google Scholar
13.Morton, NE (1974): Analysis of family resemblance. I. Introduction. Am J Hum Genet 26:318330.Google Scholar
14.Newman, HH, Freeman, FN, Holzinger, KJ (1937): “Twins: A Study of Heredity and Environment.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
15.Pearson, K, Lee, A (1903): On the laws of inheritance in man. I. Inheritance of physical characters. Biometrika 2:357462.Google Scholar
16.Pedersen, NL, McClearn, GE (1980): “Factor Structure of Common Drug Usage.” Progress Report. Institute for Behavioral Genetics, Boulder.Google Scholar
17.Rao, DC, Morton, NE, Yee, S (1974): Analysis of family resemblance. II. A linear model for family correlations. Am J Hum Genet 26:331359.Google Scholar
18.Russell, MAH, Peto, J, Patel, US (1974): The classification of smoking by factorial structure of motives. J R Statis Soc A 137:313333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Shields, J (1962): “Monozygotic Twins Brought Up Apart and Brought Up Together.” London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
20.Vandenbetg, SG, Price, RA (1978): Replication of the factor structure of the Comrey Personality Scales. Psychol Rep 42:343352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Williams, JS, Crumpacker, DW, Krier, MJ (1980): Stability for a factor-analytic description of smoking behavior. Drug Alcohol Dependence (in press).Google Scholar