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Genetic and Environmental Influences on Separation Anxiety Disorder Symptoms and Their Moderation by Age and Sex

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Abstract

We estimated genetic and environmental influences on mother-rated DSM-III-R separation anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms in 2043 3 to 18-year-old male and female twin pairs and their siblings (348 pairs) recruited from the Australian NH&MRC Twin Registry. Using DeFries and Fulker's (1985) multiple regression analysis, we found that genetic and shared environmental influences both contributed appreciably to variation in SAD symptoms (h 2 = .47, SE = .07; c 2 = .21, SE = .05) and were significantly moderated by both sex and age. Genetic influences were greater for girls than boys (h 2 = .50 and .14, respectively), whereas shared environmental influences were greater for boys than girls (c 2 = .51 and .21, respectively). Genetic influences increased with age, whereas shared environmental influences decreased with age. Shared environmental influences were greater in magnitude for twins than for nontwin siblings (c 2 = .28 versus .13, respectively). Implications of these findings for theories of the cause of separation anxiety are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia

    Sarah A. Feigon & Irwin D. Waldman

  2. The Prince of Wales Children's Hospital, Sydney, Australia

    Florence Levy

  3. Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia

    David A. Hay

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  1. Sarah A. Feigon
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  2. Irwin D. Waldman
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Feigon, S.A., Waldman, I.D., Levy, F. et al. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Separation Anxiety Disorder Symptoms and Their Moderation by Age and Sex. Behav Genet 31, 403–411 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012738304233

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