Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The Nature of the Shared Environment

Kendler, Kenneth S. LU ; Ohlsson, Henrik LU ; Lichtenstein, Paul ; Sundquist, Jan LU and Sundquist, Kristina LU (2019) In Behavior Genetics 49(1). p.1-10
Abstract

While a standard part of twin modeling, the magnitude of shared environment (c2) is rarely examined by comparing estimates obtained using other methods. To clarify these effects on familial resemblance, we estimated c2 for 20 diverse phenotypes in: (i) monozygotic and dizygotic twins, (ii) all step-siblings, and (iii) reared together and apart half-siblings, ascertained from the Swedish general population. The mean c2 estimates (± 95% CIs) differed across methods and were higher from twins (0.18; 0.13–0.23) than from the step (0.12; 0.09–0.14) and half-sibs (0.09; 0.06–0.13). c2 estimates correlated moderately across these three methods (ICC = + 0.28). When step-siblings from blended (each sib... (More)

While a standard part of twin modeling, the magnitude of shared environment (c2) is rarely examined by comparing estimates obtained using other methods. To clarify these effects on familial resemblance, we estimated c2 for 20 diverse phenotypes in: (i) monozygotic and dizygotic twins, (ii) all step-siblings, and (iii) reared together and apart half-siblings, ascertained from the Swedish general population. The mean c2 estimates (± 95% CIs) differed across methods and were higher from twins (0.18; 0.13–0.23) than from the step (0.12; 0.09–0.14) and half-sibs (0.09; 0.06–0.13). c2 estimates correlated moderately across these three methods (ICC = + 0.28). When step-siblings from blended (each sib biologically related to one parent) and adoption-like families (one sib offspring of both parents and one of neither), were examined separately, resemblance was much lower in the latter. We need to clarify the range of environmental processes now considered together under the term “shared environment.”

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Half-siblings, Shared environment, Step-siblings, Sweden, Twins
in
Behavior Genetics
volume
49
issue
1
pages
1 - 10
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:85058130777
  • pmid:30536082
ISSN
0001-8244
DOI
10.1007/s10519-018-9940-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
344f290a-81ab-4e5f-87c6-1aa74b52ea0e
date added to LUP
2018-12-21 14:12:11
date last changed
2024-04-29 21:43:46
@article{344f290a-81ab-4e5f-87c6-1aa74b52ea0e,
  abstract     = {{<p>While a standard part of twin modeling, the magnitude of shared environment (c<sup>2</sup>) is rarely examined by comparing estimates obtained using other methods. To clarify these effects on familial resemblance, we estimated c<sup>2</sup> for 20 diverse phenotypes in: (i) monozygotic and dizygotic twins, (ii) all step-siblings, and (iii) reared together and apart half-siblings, ascertained from the Swedish general population. The mean c<sup>2</sup> estimates (± 95% CIs) differed across methods and were higher from twins (0.18; 0.13–0.23) than from the step (0.12; 0.09–0.14) and half-sibs (0.09; 0.06–0.13). c<sup>2</sup> estimates correlated moderately across these three methods (ICC = + 0.28). When step-siblings from blended (each sib biologically related to one parent) and adoption-like families (one sib offspring of both parents and one of neither), were examined separately, resemblance was much lower in the latter. We need to clarify the range of environmental processes now considered together under the term “shared environment.”</p>}},
  author       = {{Kendler, Kenneth S. and Ohlsson, Henrik and Lichtenstein, Paul and Sundquist, Jan and Sundquist, Kristina}},
  issn         = {{0001-8244}},
  keywords     = {{Half-siblings; Shared environment; Step-siblings; Sweden; Twins}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{1--10}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Behavior Genetics}},
  title        = {{The Nature of the Shared Environment}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10519-018-9940-0}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10519-018-9940-0}},
  volume       = {{49}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}