Genetic and environmental influences on internalizing psychopathology across age and pubertal development.

ABSTRACT: Symptoms of anxiety and depression are commonly comorbid and partially share a genetic etiology. Mean levels of anxiety and depression increase over the transition to adolescence, particularly in girls, suggesting a possible role of pubertal development in the activation of underlying genetic risks. The current study examined how genetic and environmental influences on anxiety and depression differed by chronological age and pubertal status. We analyzed composite scores from child self-reports and parent informant-reports of internalizing symptomology in a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 1,913 individual twins from 1,006 pairs (ages 8-20 years) from the Texas Twin Project. Biometric models tested age and pubertal status as moderators of genetic and environmental influences

SUBMITTER: Patterson MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6157727 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature