Biomedical subjects

Richard J Rose

Publications and source records attributed to Richard J Rose.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Genetic influences on exercise participation in 37,051 twin pairs from seven countries.

BACKGROUND: A sedentary lifestyle remains a major threat to health in contemporary societies. To get more insight in the relative contribution of genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in exercise participation, twin samples from seven countries participating in the GenomEUtwin project were used. METHODOLOGY: Self-reported data on leisure time exercise behavior from Australia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, The Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom were used to create a comparable index of exercise participation in each country (60 minutes weekly at a minimum intensity of four metabolic equivalents). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Modest geographical variation in exercise participation was revealed in 85,198 subjects, aged 19-40 years. Modeling of monozygotic and dizygotic twin resemblance showed that genetic effects play an important role in explaining individual differences in exercise participation in each country. Shared environmental effects played no role except for Norwegian males. Heritability of exercise participation in males and females was similar and ranged from 48% to 71% (excluding Norwegian males). CONCLUSIONS: Genetic variation is important in individual exercise behavior and may involve genes influencing the acute mood effects of exercise, high exercise ability, high weight loss ability, and personality. This collaborative study suggests that attempts to find genes influencing exercise participation can pool exercise data across multiple countries and different instruments.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Genetic and environmental factors affecting self-rated health from age 16-25: a longitudinal study of Finnish twins.

We analyzed genetic and environmental determinants of self-rated health and its change from adolescence to early adulthood. Questionnaires were mailed to Finnish twins born 1975-1979 at ages 16, 17, 18 1/2 and, on average, 25 years of age (N=2465 complete twin pairs). The data were analyzed using quantitative genetic methods for twin data by the Mx statistical package. Heritability of self-rated health was greatest at age 16 (63%, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 56-67%, men and women together) and declined steadily to age 25 (33%, 95% CI 25-41%). The residual variation was due to unshared environments. Health ratings at different ages were modestly correlated (r=0.33-0.61). These correlations were mainly due to genetic factors, but unshared environment also contributed to them. An important challenge for further research is to identify environmental influences contributing to self-rated health independently of, or in interaction with, genetic factors.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Minor depression in adolescence: phenomenology and clinical correlates.

BACKGROUND: Depressions that fail to meet the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) may be underdiagnosed and undertreated in adolescent population. Traditionally, they are not considered as serious conditions and the phenomenological nature and clinical correlates of these disorders are largely unknown. In the present study, we used a large, representative and age-standardized sample of adolescents to examine the phenomenology and clinical correlates of minor depression, a poorly understood condition included in the category of Depressive Disorder Not Otherwise Specified in Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition-Text Revised (DSM-IV-TR). METHODS: 909 girls and 945 boys, with mean age of 14, were interviewed by professionals using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA). RESULTS: Although clearly milder condition than MDD, minor depression was associated with marked suicidal thoughts, plans and attempts, recurrences and a high degree of comorbidity. At this early age, despite that 14% of adolescents under 15 had suffered from depressive conditions with severe clinical implications, most of them failing to meet the diagnostic threshold for MDD, only 1.7% had received any psychiatric treatment. 40% of depressive adolescents who had attempted suicide had no contact with mental health services. LIMITATIONS: Analyzed in a cross-sectional setting, no conclusions about long-term implications could be made. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlight the clinical and public health significance of non-MDD depressions, e.g. minor depression, which need to be more carefully identified and treated at early age.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Genetic and environmental influences on stages of alcohol use across adolescence and into young adulthood.

The progression to alcohol dependence unfolds across multiple stages, including the decision to initiate use, the development of regular patterns of use, and (for some individuals) the subsequent development of problems associated with alcohol use. Using data from two population-based, longitudinal twin studies, FinnTwin16 (FT16) and FinnTwin12 (FT12), we applied multiple stage genetic models (Heath et al., Twin Res. 5 (2002) 113) to better understand the extent to which genetic and environmental influences impact the initiation of alcohol use, frequency of use in adolescence and young adulthood, and alcohol problems in young adulthood. Shared environmental factors played a large role in initiation, and a more moderate role on frequency of use, and it was largely the same influences acting across these stages of use. However, there was no significant evidence of shared environmental influences on alcohol problems in early adulthood. Problems were largely influenced by genetic factors that overlapped with genetic influences on frequency of use. Unique environmental factors were largely specific to each stage, with some overlap between alcohol problems and frequency of use at age 25.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Muscle dissatisfaction in young adult men.

BACKGROUND: Appearance concerns are of increasing importance in young men's lives. We investigated whether muscle dissatisfaction is associated with psychological symptoms, dietary supplement or anabolic steroid use, or physical activity in young men. METHODS: As a part of a questionnaire assessment of health-related behaviors in the population-based FinnTwin16 study, we assessed factors associated with muscle dissatisfaction in 1245 men aged 22-27 using logistic regression models. RESULTS: Of men, 30% experienced high muscle dissatisfaction, while 12% used supplements/steroids. Of highly muscle-dissatisfied men, 21.5% used supplements/steroids. Mean body mass index, waist circumference, or leisure aerobic activity index did not differ between individuals with high/low muscle dissatisfaction. Muscle dissatisfaction was significantly associated with a psychological and psychosomatic problems, alcohol and drug use, lower height satisfaction, sedentary lifestyle, poor subjective physical fitness, and lower life satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Muscle dissatisfaction and supplement/steroid use are relatively common, and are associated with psychological distress and markers of sedentary lifestyle.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2006

Muscle dissatisfaction and muscle-enhancing substance use: a population-based twin study in young adult men.

In the population-based Finn Twin 16 study, proportions of genetic and environmental factors contributing to muscle dissatisfaction and muscle-enhancing substance use were assessed in 319 pairs of twin brothers: 141 monozygotic (MZ) and 178 dizygotic (DZ) pairs. In addition there were 86 twin individuals from pairs in which only one co-twin responded. Of all respondents, 30% experienced high muscle dissatisfaction. The corresponding proportion of muscle-enhancing substance use was 10%. The subjects were similar in age (23.8 years, 95% confidence interval [CI] 23.76-23.84), body mass index (23.7, 95% CI 23.5-23.9), and waist circumference (84.5 cm, 95% CI 83.7-85.2), independent of their muscle dissatisfaction or muscle-enhancing substance use status and independent of their zygosity. The MZ polychoric correlation for muscle dissatisfaction was .39 (95% CI .17-.58) and .27 for DZ pairs (95% CI .07-.46). The MZ tetrachoric correlation for muscle-enhancing substance use was .65 (95% CI .28-.87) and .56 for DZ pairs (95% CI .26-.78). The AE model, where additive genetic factors (A) accounted for 42% (95% CI .23-.59) and unique environmental factors (E) 58% (95% CI .41-.77) of the liability, provided the best fit for muscle dissatisfaction. The CE model, where common environmental factors (C) accounted for 60% (95% CI .37-.77) and unique environmental factors (E) 40% (95% CI .23-.63) of the liability, provided the best fit for muscle-enhancing substance use. Both genetic and unique (nonfamilial) environmental factors are involved in muscle dissatisfaction in the population. Nongenetic factors (both familial and nonfamilial) appear to best explain the use of muscle-enhancing substances.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Prenatal programming of behavior: a twin-study perspective.

This paper reviews three designs that compare co-twins in tests of prenatal programming. The first design uses co-twin comparisons to attempt within-family replications of between-family associations, reported in non-twins, between reduced fetal growth and risk for later disease or behavior disorder. These replication efforts are mixed, perhaps due to small samples of weight-discordant twins, perhaps confounded by differences in the meaning of fetal growth in twins. The second design compares monozygotic co-twins from pairs differing in their placentation, with some evidence, again constrained by sample limitations that twins sharing a single placenta are more alike in dimensions of cognitive ability and personality. A third design employs a dermatoglyphic index of bilateral asymmetry as a marker of reduced buffering from environmental noise, with positive results from MZ twins that await necessary replication in longitudinal data from non-twins. Twin comparisons, especially the comparisons of monozygotic co-twins, offer an informative and incisive approach for research on prenatal programming in humans.

Child Behavior Disorders↗

PubMed2005

Body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in young adult twins.

OBJECTIVE: We explored correlates of the Eating Disorder Inventory subscales Body Dissatisfaction (BD) and Drive for Thinness (DT) and genetic and environmental influences on these traits. METHOD: In a population-based sample of 4,667 Finnish twins aged 22-27 years, we conducted twin modeling to explore genetic and environmental contributions to body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness. Logistic regression was used for the correlational analysis. RESULTS: Various eating and body size-related factors and psychosomatic symptoms were significantly associated with high body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in both genders. In women, early puberty onset, early initiation of sexual activity, and multiple sex partners were statistically significant risk factors of body dissatisfaction. In gender-specific univariate twin models, additive genes accounted for 59.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 53.2-64.7%) of the variance in body dissatisfaction and for 51.0% (95% CI = 43.7-57.5%) of the variance in drive for thinness among females, but for none of the variance among males. DISCUSSION: There are very distinct gender differences in the heritability patterns of body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in young adults.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Testosterone and alcohol use among adolescent male twins: testing between-family associations in within-family comparisons.

We examined associations of testosterone (T) and alcohol use in adolescent twin brothers, conducting both between- and within-family analyses. The twins completed semi-structured interviews, provided two saliva samples to assay T, and reported their drinking patterns and pubertal development. We adjusted T levels for diurnal/seasonal effects and association with pubertal maturation. In analyses of twins as individuals, higher T levels characterized boys reporting ever drinking, more frequent intoxication, high density drinking, more alcohol symptoms, and diagnosed alcohol dependency on interview. Adjusting for pubertal development, only associations with symptom count and diagnosis remained significant. The association with frequent intoxication replicated among drinking-discordant twin brothers, effectively ruling out between-family confounds, but that association was not significant after adjustment for pubertal development. The phenotypic correlation between T and pubertal maturation is largely genetic, inviting study of the magnitude and meaning of linkages between testosterone and symptoms of alcoholism on follow-up in early adulthood.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Understanding the covariation among childhood externalizing symptoms: genetic and environmental influences on conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms.

Conduct disorder (CD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) are common childhood externalizing disorders that frequently co-occur. However, the causes of their comorbidity are not well understood. To address that question, we analyzed data from >600 Finnish twin pairs, who completed standardized interviews at age 14. Behavior genetic methods were used to examine how genetic/environmental factors contribute to each disorder's symptoms and to their covariation. We found significant genetic effects on each disorder with only modest evidence of shared environmental influences. Our data suggest the comorbidity among CD, ADHD, and ODD is primarily explained by shared genetic influences; however, each disorder was also under unique genetic influence, supporting the distinction of each disorder.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Intentional weight loss in young adults: sex-specific genetic and environmental effects.

OBJECTIVE: To explore eating styles associated with intentional weight loss (IWL) and to determine whether the genetic liability in IWL is entirely shared with genetic liability affecting BMI. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: As part of a longitudinal assessment of various health-related behaviors in a large population-based sample of twins, eating styles, BMI, and the number of times the study participants had intentionally lost > or = 5 kg were assessed by questionnaire from 4667 male and female twins (22 to 27 years of age). Associations of eating styles and IWL were explored using polytomous logistic regression models adjusted for BMI. Sex-specific bivariate structural equation modeling was used to explore genetic and environmental correlations of BMI and IWL. RESULTS: Individuals who had engaged in IWL exhibited markedly more restricting, overeating, and alternating restricting/overeating than those in the no-IWL group. Snacking and eating in the evening were characteristic of women with at least two IWL attempts. Eating in response to visual and emotional cues was very pronounced in women who had engaged in IWL but much less so in men. IWL was estimated to have a heritability of 38% [95% confidence interval (CI), 19% to 55%] in men and 66% (95% CI, 55% to 75%) in women. The genetic covariance of BMI and IWL was 0.38 (95% CI, 0.28 to 0.47) for men and 0.45 (95% CI, 0.41 to 0.52) for women. DISCUSSION: Distinct sex differences exist in eating styles associated with IWL and in the heritability of IWL. Most genetic factors affecting BMI are different from those affecting IWL.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Co-twin dependence modifies heritability of abstinence and alcohol use: a population-based study of Finnish twins.

The role of co-twin dependence (twins' closeness or reliance on the co-twin) was examined as a moderator of genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use in adolescence and early adulthood in a large longitudinal population-based study of Finnish twins (FinnTwin16). The associations between co-twin dependence and alcohol use were studied first at an individual level in adolescence (n = 3362) and early adulthood (n = 2912). Then, maximum likelihood models were fit to the two waves of data from same-sex twin pairs to assess the differences and changes in genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use (abstinence, drinking frequency, intoxication frequency); N = 1342 pairs in adolescence, and N = 1078 pairs in early adulthood. Overall, no significant associations were found between co-twin dependence and individual alcohol use. However, co-twin dependence importantly modulated genetic effects on drinking habits, especially in adolescence, but also in early adulthood. Co-twin-dependent twins reported greater similarity in their alcohol-related behavior across all alcohol-use measures at both time points, and the role of genes and environments varied according to co-twin dependence. Shared environmental factors explained most of the variation in drinking among co-twin-dependent twins in adolescence and contributed to drinking to intoxication during early adulthood. In contrast, among co-twin-independent twin pairs, genetic variance contributed significantly to all alcohol-use measures at both time-points. An interdependent sibling relationship is an important modifier of drinking habits, and it appears to reduce the impact of inherited liabilities on alcohol-related behavior especially in adolescence.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Genetic and environmental factors in breakfast eating patterns.

Despite many studies on the prevalence of breakfast eating, we know little about factors that determine breakfast eating patterns. Our aim was to find out to which extent breakfast eating frequency is influenced by genetic and environmental factors using twin and twin-family models in a population sample of 16-year-old twins (n = 5250) and their parents (n = 4663). In common effects sex-limitation models, additive genetic effects explained 41% (95% CI: 21-63%) of the variance in breakfast eating in girls and 66% (95% CI: 47-79%) in boys, and common environmental effects 45% (95% CI: 23-62%) in girls and 14% (95% CI: 5-29%) in boys. Of twin-family models, phenotypic assortment models fitted the data best. Heritability estimates increased somewhat (72%, 95% CI: 46-98% in girls and 63%, 95% CI: 38-89%) in boys. Common family environment remained substantial in both sexes. Cultural transmission was nonsignificant. The relative influence of genetic and family factors on adolescent breakfast eating frequency differs by sex and is generation-specific.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Genetic and environmental influences on pubertal development: longitudinal data from Finnish twins at ages 11 and 14.

To study sources of individual differences in pubertal development, the authors fit a sex-limitation common factor model to data reported, at ages 11 and 14 years, by 1,891 twin pairs on items that comprise the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS; A. C. Petersen, L. Crockett, M. Richards, & A. Boxer, 1988). The model divides variation into a general pubertal factor and item-specific variation and, in addition, decomposes it into constituent sources. In both boys and girls, genetic influences made the largest contribution to variance common to PDS items. Genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for variation specific to PDS items in boys, whereas for girls, common environmental influences were added for growth spurt and menarcheal status. For both common and item-specific variation, genetic effects were partially sex specific. Subsidiary analyses found accelerated maturation in both boys and girls who at age 14 were reared in father-absent homes.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Genetic and environmental effects on conduct disorder and alcohol dependence symptoms and their covariation at age 14.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol misuse and conduct disorder (CD) are strongly associated in adolescents. Is their association due to shared genetic and environmental liabilities? We addressed that question with data obtained from structured interviews of 14-year-old Finnish twins. METHODS: A total of 1854 twins completed face-to-face interviews. Univariate models, allowing for sex limitation, were fit to symptom counts for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised diagnoses of CD and alcoholism to examine their genetic and environmental influences. Then, bivariate models evaluated the extent to which genetic and environmental influences contributed to the covariation between symptom counts for the two disorders. RESULTS: A total of 822 twins (44% of the sample) reported one or more symptoms of CD; alcohol dependence symptoms were much less common, reported by only 12%. The correlation between the two symptom counts was 0.50. Models fit to the twin data demonstrated that CD symptoms were under significant genetic influence in both boys and girls, although those influences were predominantly sex specific. In contrast, alcohol dependence symptoms were, at this age, under sex-specific effects of common environments, with no evidence of genetic influences. Accordingly, the substantial covariation between alcohol dependence symptoms and those of CD was attributed entirely to shared environmental effects. CONCLUSIONS: At age 14, genetic influences on alcohol dependence symptoms are negligible, and the correlated liabilities between these symptoms and those of CD are to be found in environmental factors that are common to both.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Inattentiveness, parental smoking and adolescent smoking initiation.

AIMS: To examine how adolescents' inattentive behaviour, together with parental smoking patterns, predicts smoking initiation by age 14. DESIGN, SETTINGS: A prospective, longitudinal study: baseline at ages 11-12, follow-up at age 14. A population-based sample of Finnish twins, born 1983-1987, with parents and classroom teachers as additional informants. Two groups were formed, allocating the co-twins of each family into separate groups: the study sample and a replication sample. PARTICIPANTS: Twin individuals (n = 4552), aged 11-12 at baseline and 14 (average 14.04 years) at follow-up. MEASUREMENTS: At baseline, inattentiveness was assessed with the Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory (MPNI, Teacher Form) and parental smoking with individual questionnaires completed by each twins' parents; at the age 14 follow-up, adolescent smoking was assessed with a self-report questionnaire. FINDINGS: At age 14, 57% reported never having smoked, 34% had experimented with cigarettes and 9% were current smokers. Inattentiveness and parental smoking additively predicted both experimental and current smoking in adolescence. The effects were independent of each other. CONCLUSIONS: The risk related to inattentiveness itself is high, but in combination with the effects of parental smoking, the probability of current smoking can rise as high as 38%, compared with 5% without these two risk factors. For prevention purposes, parental commitment to non-smoking should be emphasized.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Genetic and environmental influences on the relationship between aggression and hyperactivity-impulsivity as rated by teachers and parents.

This study examined genetic and environmental contributions to the covariance between aggression and hyperactivity-impulsivity as rated by twins' teachers and parents. Sex-differences in these genetic and environmental contributions and rater bias/sibling interaction effects were of interest as well. Part of an ongoing nation-wide twin-family study of behavioral development and health habits, the sample consisted of 1636 Finnish twin pairs ascertained from five consecutive and complete twin birth cohorts. Data were collected at ages 11-12, using teacher and parental rating forms of the Multidimensional Peer Nomination Inventory. Bivariate analyses were performed using structural equation modeling allowing sex-limitation effects. Results show that, in addition to significant genetic and environmental influences specific to each behavior, aggression and hyperactivity-impulsivity share common genetic and environmental etiology. Results provide evidence that both genetic and environmental factors are important in creating the observed correlation between aggression and hyperactivity-impulsivity.

Child Behavior↗

PubMed2004

Externalizing problem behaviors and headache: a follow-up study of adolescent Finnish twins.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of teacher- and parent-rated behavior with headache in a prospective follow-up study of adolescent Finnish twins. METHODS: Questionnaire data were collected during 1995-2001 from a nationwide sample of Finnish families of 11-year-old twins who were born 1983-1987 (n = 5393) and again at age of 14. Psychological factors were measured by using parents' and teachers' ratings of a 37-item multidimensional rating instrument at the ages of 11 and 14. RESULTS: At age 11, headache frequency (5 categories) was associated with total scales of externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors and adaptive behaviors, assessed by parents, but only with externalizing problem behaviors assessed by teachers. Results were similar at age 14. The incidence of at least monthly headache between the ages of 11 and 14 years was predicted by externalizing problem behaviors and 2 subscales of adaptive behaviors: constructiveness and poor compliance. In twin pairs discordant for headache, externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors were more common among headache sufferers than among headache-nonsufferers. Headache-discordant monozygotic co-twins confirmed the association of externalizing problem behaviors with headache. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of adolescents' headache is predicted by psychological factors, especially by externalizing problem behaviors. This seems to be independent of genetic or familial influences on behavior and headache. Behavioral problems may be a sign of worsening of headache or vice versa.

Adolescent↗