Gender differences in like-sex middle-aged twins: an extended network analysis of depressive symptoms, cognitive functions and leisure activities.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Depression affects twice as many women as men. Risk factors for depression certainly impact this difference, but their strong interconnectedness challenges the assessment of standalone contributions. Network models allow the identification of systematic independent relationships between individual symptoms and risk factors. This study aimed to evaluate whether the extended networks of depressive symptoms, cognitive functions, and leisure activities in like-sex twins differ depending on gender or zygosity.

Methods

Twins, including 2,040 women (918 monozygotic and 1,122 dizygotic) and 1,712 men (730 monozygotic and 982 dizygotic), were selected from the Danish Twin Registry for having, along with their like-sex co-twin, completed measures of depressive symptoms, cog

SUBMITTER: Zhang D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12041731 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature