Genetic Influences on the Covariance and Genetic Correlations in a Bivariate Twin Model: An Application to Well-Being

Lianne de Vries; C.E.M. van Beijsterveldt; Hermine Maes; Lucía Colodro-Conde; Meike Bartels

doi:10.1007/s10519-021-10046-y

Genetic Influences on the Covariance and Genetic Correlations in a Bivariate Twin Model: An Application to Well-Being

Lianne de Vries^*, C.E.M. van Beijsterveldt, Hermine Maes, Lucía Colodro-Conde, Meike Bartels

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The distinction between genetic influences on the covariance (or bivariate heritability) and genetic correlations in bivariate twin models is often not well-understood or only one is reported while the results show distinctive information about the relation between traits. We applied bivariate twin models in a large sample of adolescent twins, to disentangle the association between well-being (WB) and four complex traits (optimism, anxious-depressed symptoms (AD), aggressive behaviour (AGG), and educational achievement (EA)). Optimism and AD showed respectively a strong positive and negative phenotypic correlation with WB, the negative correlation of WB and AGG is lower and the correlation with EA is nearly zero. All four traits showed a large genetic contribution to the covariance with well-being. The genetic correlations of well-being with optimism and AD are strong and smaller for AGG and EA. We used the results of the models to explain what information is retrieved based on the bivariate heritability versus the genetic correlations and the (clinical) implications.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	191-203
Number of pages	13
Journal	Behavior Genetics
Volume	51
Issue number	3
Early online date	13 Feb 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-021-10046-y
Publication status	Published - May 2021

Funding

This work is supported by an European Research Council consolidator Grant (WELL-BEING 771057 PI Bartels). Data collection in the NTR was supported by: NWO large investment (480-15-001/674; Netherlands Twin Registry Repository: researching the interplay between genome and environment); “Genetic and Family influences on Adolescent psychopathology and Wellness” (NWO 463-06-001); “A twin-sib study of adolescent wellness” (NWO-VENI 451-04-034). L C–C is supported by a QIMR Berghofer fellowship.

Funders	Funder number
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme	771057
European Research Council

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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title = "Genetic Influences on the Covariance and Genetic Correlations in a Bivariate Twin Model: An Application to Well-Being",

abstract = "The distinction between genetic influences on the covariance (or bivariate heritability) and genetic correlations in bivariate twin models is often not well-understood or only one is reported while the results show distinctive information about the relation between traits. We applied bivariate twin models in a large sample of adolescent twins, to disentangle the association between well-being (WB) and four complex traits (optimism, anxious-depressed symptoms (AD), aggressive behaviour (AGG), and educational achievement (EA)). Optimism and AD showed respectively a strong positive and negative phenotypic correlation with WB, the negative correlation of WB and AGG is lower and the correlation with EA is nearly zero. All four traits showed a large genetic contribution to the covariance with well-being. The genetic correlations of well-being with optimism and AD are strong and smaller for AGG and EA. We used the results of the models to explain what information is retrieved based on the bivariate heritability versus the genetic correlations and the (clinical) implications.",

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AU - Colodro-Conde, Lucía

AU - Bartels, Meike

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AB - The distinction between genetic influences on the covariance (or bivariate heritability) and genetic correlations in bivariate twin models is often not well-understood or only one is reported while the results show distinctive information about the relation between traits. We applied bivariate twin models in a large sample of adolescent twins, to disentangle the association between well-being (WB) and four complex traits (optimism, anxious-depressed symptoms (AD), aggressive behaviour (AGG), and educational achievement (EA)). Optimism and AD showed respectively a strong positive and negative phenotypic correlation with WB, the negative correlation of WB and AGG is lower and the correlation with EA is nearly zero. All four traits showed a large genetic contribution to the covariance with well-being. The genetic correlations of well-being with optimism and AD are strong and smaller for AGG and EA. We used the results of the models to explain what information is retrieved based on the bivariate heritability versus the genetic correlations and the (clinical) implications.

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Genetic Influences on the Covariance and Genetic Correlations in a Bivariate Twin Model: An Application to Well-Being

Abstract

Funding

UN SDGs

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