Social support is often considered an environmental factor affecting health, especially in aging populations. However, its genetic underpinnings suggest a more complex origin. This study investigates the heritability of social support through applying a threshold model on data of a large adult sample of twins (N = 8019) from the Netherlands Twin Register, collected between 2009 and 2011. The study employed the Duke – UNC Functional Social Support Questionnaire to assess social support quality. Our analysis revealed genetic contributions to social support, with heritability estimated at 37%, without a contribution of shared environment and no differences between men and women in heritability. The study’s results underscore the complexity of social support as a trait influenced by genetic and environmental factors, challenging the notion that it is solely an environmental construct.

Previous studies have shown that mothers of naturally conceived dizygotic (DZ) twins tend to be taller, older, and smoke more than mothers of naturally conceived monozygotic (MZ) twin and mothers of singletons. Here, we investigate whether mothers of naturally conceived DZ twins differ from mothers who conceived their DZ twins after medically assisted reproduction (MAR) in eight maternal traits related to fertility based on observational survey data. We include data from 33,648 mothers from the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) and 1660 mothers of twins from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBA). We contrast mothers of naturally conceived DZ twins with mothers of MAR DZ twins. Next, we further segment the MAR group into mothers who underwent hormonal induction of ovulation but not in vitro fertilization (IVF) and those who IVF twins, comparing them both to each other and against the mothers of naturally conceived DZ twins. Mothers of naturally conceived DZ twins smoke more often, differ in body composition, have a higher maternal age and have more offspring before the twins than mothers of MZ twins. Compared to MAR DZ twin mothers, mothers of naturally conceived DZ twins have fewer miscarriages, lower maternal age and increased height, more offspring and are more often smokers. BMI before the twin pregnancy is similar in both natural and MAR DZ twin mothers. Mothers who received hormonal induction of ovulation (OI) have a lower maternal age, fewer miscarriages, and a higher number of offspring before their twin pregnancy than twin mothers who received IVF and/or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatments. Our study shows that twin mothers are a heterogenous group and the differences between twin mothers should be taken into account in epidemiological and genetic research that includes twins.

In this cohort profile article we describe the lifetime major depressive disorder (MDD) database that has been established as part of the BIObanks Netherlands Internet Collaboration (BIONIC). Across the Netherlands we collected data on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) lifetime MDD diagnosis in 132,850 Dutch individuals. Currently, N = 66,684 of these also have genomewide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data. We initiated this project because the complex genetic basis of MDD requires large population-wide studies with uniform in-depth phenotyping. For standardized phenotyping we developed the LIDAS (LIfetime Depression Assessment Survey), which then was used to measure MDD in 11 Dutch cohorts. Data from these cohorts were combined with diagnostic interview depression data from 5 clinical cohorts to create a dataset of N = 29,650 lifetime MDD cases (22%) meeting DSM-5 criteria and 94,300 screened controls. In addition, genomewide genotype data from the cohorts were assembled into a genomewide association study (GWAS) dataset of N = 66,684 Dutch individuals (25.3% cases). Phenotype data include DSM-5-based MDD diagnoses, sociodemographic variables, information on lifestyle and BMI, characteristics of depressive symptoms and episodes, and psychiatric diagnosis and treatment history. We describe the establishment and harmonization of the BIONIC phenotype and GWAS datasets and provide an overview of the available information and sample characteristics. Our next step is the GWAS of lifetime MDD in the Netherlands, with future plans including fine-grained genetic analyses of depression characteristics, international collaborations and multi-omics studies.

Establishing causal relationships in observational studies is an important step in research and policy decision making. The association between an exposure and an outcome can be confounded by multiple factors, often making it hard to draw causal conclusions. The co-twin control design (CTCD) is a powerful approach that allows for the investigation of causal effects while controlling for genetic and shared environmental confounding factors. This article introduces the CTCD and offers an overview of analysis methods for binary and continuous outcome and exposure variables. Tools for data simulation are provided, along with practical guidance and accompanying scripts for implementing the CTCD in R, SPSS, and Stata. While the CTCD offers valuable insights into causal inference, it depends on several assumptions that are important when interpreting CTCD results. By presenting a broad overview of the CTCD, this article aims to equip researchers with actionable recommendations and a comprehensive understanding of the design’s strengths and limitations.

We examine some of the genetic features of neuroticism (N) taking as an animal model the Maudsley Reactive (MR) and Maudsley Nonreactive (MNR) rat strains which were selectively bred, respectively, for high and low open-field defecation (OFD) starting in the late 1950s. To draw analogies with human genetic studies, we explore the genetic correlation of N with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We review progress with the rat model and developments in the field of human complex trait genetics, including genetic association studies that relate to current understanding of the genetics of N. The widespread differences in the tone of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system that have been found between the Maudsley strains, particularly those observed in the colon, may underly the differences in OFD (MNR, higher sympathetic tone and zero defecation). In humans, a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) reported six genes contributing to IBS, four of which were implicated in mood and anxiety disorders or were expressed in the brain, with three of the four also expressed in the nerve fibers and ganglia of the gut. Heritability of N is estimated at around 50% in twin and family studies, and GWASs identified hundreds of loci, enabling estimation of genome-wide correlations (rg) with other traits. Significantly, the estimate for rg between risk of IBS, anxiety, N, and depression was >0.5 and suggested genetic pleiotropy without evidence for causal mechanisms. Findings on the adrenergic pharmacology of the colon, coupled with new understanding of the role of the locus ceruleus in modifying afferent information from this organ, generate hypotheses that challenge traditional cause/effect notions about the relationship of the central nervous system to peripheral events in response to stress, suggest specific targets for gene action in the Maudsley model and emphasize the value of reciprocal evaluation of genetic architecture underlying N in rodents and humans.

Individual differences in educational attainment (EA) and physical health, as indexed by body mass index (BMI), are correlated within individuals and across generations. The aim of our study was to assess the transmission of these traits from parents to their offspring in childhood and adolescence. We analyzed BMI and EA in 13,916 families from the Netherlands. Data were available for 27,577 parents (mean age 33) and 26,855 of their offspring at 4 and 12 years of age. We employed structural equation modeling to simultaneously estimate the phenotypic transmission of BMI and EA from parents to offspring, the spousal correlations, and the residual child BMI-EA associations after accounting for intergenerational transmission and testing for gender differences therein. We found a significant intergenerational transmission of BMI to BMI in childhood (age 4; standardized regression coefficient β = .10) and adolescence (age 12; β = .20), and of EA to academic achievement in adolescence (β = .19). Cross-trait parent-to-offspring transmission was weak. All transmission effects were independent of parent or offspring gender. We observed within-person EA-BMI correlations that were negative in parents (∼−.09), positive in children (∼.05) and negative in adolescents (∼−.06). Residual EA-BMI were positive in children (∼.05) and insignificant in adolescents. Spousal correlations were .46 for EA, .21 for BMI, and ∼−.09 cross-trait. After accounting for spousal correlations, the intergenerational transmission for BMI and EA is mainly predictive within, but not across, traits. The within-person correlation between BMI and EA can change in direction between childhood and adulthood.

In studies of singletons, a range of early-life characteristics have been reported to be associated with handedness, but some of these associations have failed to replicate. We examined associations between 23 early life characteristics with handedness in a large sample of 37,495 5-year-old twins. We considered three definitions of handedness: left-handedness (LH), mixed-handedness (MH), and non-right-handedness (NRH). Our main aim was to test whether the associations with sex, birth weight, gestational age, and season of birth — as reported in singletons — replicate in twins, and to examine twin-specific variables, including zygosity, chorionicity, birth order, and intertwin delivery time. Compared to previously published data from adults born as singletons (7.23%), the prevalence of NRH was higher in both twins (16.19%) and their parents (15.09%). In the twins, LH and NRH were associated with parents’ LH. Male sex and lower gestational age were associated with NRH, and LH was associated with not being breastfed. MH was related to neurodevelopmental delays and higher externalizing problems later in childhood. Other previously reported associations were not replicated, and no twin-specific characteristics were related to handedness. These results emphasize the importance of considering multiple definitions of handedness and indicate a small number of replicated associations across studies.

Strong associations between neural tube defects (NTDs) and monozygotic (MZ) twinning have long been noted, and it has been suggested that NTD cases who do not present as MZ twins may be the survivors of MZ twinning events. We have recently shown that MZ twins carry a strong, distinctive DNA methylation signature and have developed an algorithm based on genomewide DNA methylation array data that distinguishes MZ twins from dizygotic twins and other relatives at well above chance level. We have applied this algorithm to published methylation data from five fetal tissues (placental chorionic villi, kidney, spinal cord, brain and muscle) collected from spina bifida cases (n = 22), anencephalic cases (n = 15) and controls (n = 19). We see no difference in signature between cases and controls, providing no support for a common etiological role of MZ twinning in NTDs. The strong associations therefore continue to await elucidation.

There are research questions whose answers require record linkage of multiple databases that may be characterized by limited options for full data sharing. For this purpose, the Open Data Infrastructure for Social Science and Economic Innovations (ODISSEI) consortium has supported the development of the ODISSEI Secure Supercomputer (OSSC) platform that allows researchers to link cohort data to data from Statistics Netherlands and run large-scale analyses in a high-performance computing (HPC) environment. Here, we report a successful record linkage genomewide association (GWA) study on expenditure for total health, mental health, primary and hospital care, and medication. Record linkage for genotype data from 16,726 participants from the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) with data from Statistics Netherlands was accomplished in the secure OSSC platform, followed by gene-based tests and estimation of total and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based heritability. The total heritability of expenditure ranged between 29.4% (SE 0.8) and 37.5% (SE 0.8), but GWA analyses did not identify SNPs or genes that were genomewide significantly associated with health care expenditure. SNP-based heritability was between 0.0% (SE 3.5) and 5.4% (SE 4.0) and was different from zero for mental health care and primary care expenditure. We conclude that successfully linking genotype data to administrative health care expenditure data from Statistics Netherlands is feasible and demonstrates a series of analyses on health care expenditure. The OSSC platform offers secure possibilities for analyzing linked data in large scale and realizing sample sizes required for GWA studies, providing invaluable opportunities to answer many new research questions.

We compare the power of two different approaches to detect passive genotype–environment (GE) covariance originating from cultural and genetic transmission operating simultaneously. In the traditional nuclear twin family (NTF) design, cultural transmission is estimated from the phenotypic covariance matrices of the mono- and dizygotic twins and their parents. Here, phenotyping is required in all family members. A more recent method is the transmitted–nontransmitted (T–NT) allele design, which exploits measured genetic variants in parents and offspring to test for effects of nontransmitted alleles from parents. This design requires two-generation genome-wide data and a powerful genome-wide association study (GWAS) for the phenotype in addition to phenotyping in offspring. We compared the power of both designs. Using exact data simulation, we demonstrate three points: how the power of the T–NT design depends on the predictive power of polygenic risk scores (PRSs); that when the NTF design can be applied, its power to detect cultural transmission and GE covariance is high relative to T–NT; and that, given effect sizes from contemporary GWAS, adding PRSs to the NTF design does not yield an appreciable increase in the power to detect cultural transmission. However, it may be difficult to collect phenotypes of parents and the possible importance of gene × age interaction, and secular generational effects can cause complications for many important phenotypes. The T–NT design avoids these complications.

Our current society is characterized by an increased availability of industrially processed foods with high salt, fat and sugar content. How is it that some people prefer these unhealthy foods while others prefer more healthy foods? It is suggested that both genetic and environmental factors play a role. The aim of this study was to (1) identify food preference clusters in the largest twin-family study into food preference to date and (2) determine the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to individual differences in food preference in the Netherlands. Principal component analysis was performed to identify the preference clusters by using data on food liking/disliking from 16,541 adult multiples and their family members. To estimate the heritability of food preference, the data of 7833 twins were used in structural equation models. We identified seven food preference clusters (Meat, Fish, Fruits, Vegetables, Savory snacks, Sweet snacks and Spices) and one cluster with Drinks. Broad-sense heritability (additive [A] + dominant [D] genetic factors) for these clusters varied between .36 and .60. Dominant genetic effects were found for the clusters Fruit, Fish (males only) and Spices. Quantitative sex differences were found for Meat, Fish and Savory snacks and Drinks. To conclude, our study convincingly showed that genetic factors play a significant role in food preference. A next important step is to identify these genes because genetic vulnerability for food preference is expected to be linked to actual food consumption and different diet-related disorders.

Loneliness is related to mental and somatic health outcomes, including borderline personality disorder. Here, we analyze the sources of variation that are responsible for the relationship between borderline personality features (including four dimensions, affective instability, identity disturbance, negative relationships, self-harm and a total score) and loneliness. Using genetically informative data from two large nonclinical samples of adult twin pairs from Australia and the Netherlands (N = 11,329), we estimate the phenotypic, genetic and environmental correlations between self-reported borderline personality features and loneliness. Individual differences in borderline personality and loneliness were best explained by additive genetic factors with heritability estimates h2 = 41% for the borderline personality total score and h2 = 36% for loneliness, with the remaining variation explained by environmental influences that were not shared by twins from the same pair. Genetic and environmental factors influencing borderline personality (total score and four subscales separately) were also partial causes of loneliness. The correlation between loneliness and the borderline personality total score was rph = .51. The genetic correlation was estimated at rg = .64 and the environmental correlation at re = .40. Our study suggests common etiological factors in loneliness and borderline personality features.

Metabolites are small molecules involved in cellular metabolism where they act as reaction substrates or products. The term ‘metabolomics’ refers to the comprehensive study of these molecules. The concentrations of metabolites in biological tissues are under genetic control, but this is limited by environmental factors such as diet. In adult mono- and dizygotic twin pairs, we estimated the contribution of genetic and shared environmental influences on metabolite levels by structural equation modeling and tested whether the familial resemblance for metabolite levels is mainly explained by genetic or by environmental factors that are shared by family members. Metabolites were measured across three platforms: two based on proton nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and one employing mass spectrometry. These three platforms comprised 237 single metabolic traits of several chemical classes. For the three platforms, metabolites were assessed in 1407, 1037 and 1116 twin pairs, respectively. We carried out power calculations to establish what percentage of shared environmental variance could be detected given these sample sizes. Our study did not find evidence for a systematic contribution of shared environment, defined as the influence of growing up together in the same household, on metabolites assessed in adulthood. Significant heritability was observed for nearly all 237 metabolites; significant contribution of the shared environment was limited to 6 metabolites. The top quartile of the heritability distribution was populated by 5 of the 11 investigated chemical classes. In this quartile, metabolites of the class lipoprotein were significantly overrepresented, whereas metabolites of classes glycerophospholipids and glycerolipids were significantly underrepresented.

Cohort studies are essential for conducting large studies of multiple exposures and outcomes in humans. Recently, the ability to combine data from multiple cohorts in, for example, meta-analyses, and the willingness in the genetics community to collaborate to enable replication studies has led to many new insights into the genetic and environmental determinants of human health and behaviors. The contribution of Professor Nicholas Martin to the development of cohort studies, particularly of twin and twin-family studies, over a period of several decades is reviewed. He has contributed to the development and use of both Australian and international resources. The contributions of Australian twin studies to genomewide association projects are multiple, and across multiple domains, from biomarkers, lifestyle and behavior to disorders and disease.

In the course of twin studies whose main focus was elucidation of genetic and environmental factors on behavioral traits, many twin researchers became aware of the strong tendency for dizygotic (DZ) twinning to run in families. Over four decades, Nick Martin and others initiated hormone and ultrasound studies, performed segregation and pedigree analyses, tested candidate genes, carried out linkage projects in sister pairs and formed large collaborations to illuminate the genetics of DZ twinning by genome-wide association studies and meta-analysis. This article summarizes the early work on hormone and genetic studies and describes the meta-analyses that have at last met with success in finding the first genes that predispose to DZ twinning, which also appear to influence many other female reproductive traits.

Life-course experiences have been postulated to program hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis activity, suggesting that HPA axis activity is, at least partially, stable over time. Yet, there is paucity of data on the long-term stability of cortisol production and metabolism. We performed a prospective follow-up study in twins recruited from a nationwide register to estimate the stability of cortisol production and metabolism over time, and the contribution of genetic and environmental factors to this stability. In total, 218 healthy mono- and dizygotic twins were included. At the ages of 9, 12 and 17 years, morning urine samples were collected for assessment (by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry) of cortisol metabolites, enabling the calculation of cortisol metabolite excretion rate and cortisol metabolism activity. Our results showed a low stability for both cortisol metabolite excretion rate (with correlations <.20) and cortisol metabolism activity indices (with correlations of .25 to .46 between 9 and 12 years, −.02 to .15 between 12 and 17 years and .09 to .28 between 9 and 17 years). Because of the low stability over time, genetic and environmental contributions to this stability were difficult to assess, although it seemed to be mostly determined by genetic factors. The low stability in both cortisol production and metabolism between ages 9 and 17 years reflects the dynamic nature of the HPA axis.

Here we provide an update of the 2013 report on the Nigerian Twin and Sibling Registry (NTSR). The major aim of the NTSR is to understand genetic and environmental influences and their interplay in psychological and mental health development in Nigerian children and adolescents. Africans have the highest twin birth rates among all human populations, and Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. Due to its combination of large population and high twin birth rates, Nigeria has one of the largest twin populations in the world. In this article, we provide current updates on the NTSR samples recruited, recruitment procedures, zygosity assessment and findings emerging from the NTSR.

The Netherlands Twin Register (NTR) is a national register in which twins, multiples and their parents, siblings, spouses and other family members participate. Here we describe the NTR resources that were created from more than 30 years of data collections; the development and maintenance of the newly developed database systems, and the possibilities these resources create for future research. Since the early 1980s, the NTR has enrolled around 120,000 twins and a roughly equal number of their relatives. The majority of twin families have participated in survey studies, and subsamples took part in biomaterial collection (e.g., DNA) and dedicated projects, for example, for neuropsychological, biomarker and behavioral traits. The recruitment into the NTR is all inclusive without any restrictions on enrollment. These resources — the longitudinal phenotyping, the extended pedigree structures and the multigeneration genotyping — allow for future twin-family research that will contribute to gene discovery, causality modeling, and studies of genetic and cultural inheritance.