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A review and meta-analysis of the heritability of specific phobia subtypes and corresponding fears
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Evidence from twin studies suggests that genetic factors contribute to the risk of developing a fear or a phobia. The aim of the present study was to review the current literature regarding twin studies describing the genetic basis of specific phobias and their corresponding fears. The analysis included five twin studies on fears and ten twin studies on specific phobias. Heritability estimates of fear subtypes and specific phobia subtypes both varied widely, even within the subtypes. A meta-analysis performed on the twin study results indicated that fears and specific phobias are moderately heritable. The highest mean heritability (±SEM) among fear subtypes was found for animal fear (45%±0.004), and among specific phobias for the blood-injury-injection phobia (33%±0.06). For most phenotypes, variance could be explained solely by additive genetic and unique environmental effects. Given the dearth of independent data on the heritability of specific phobias and fears, additional research is needed.
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“A recent meta-analysis demonstrated a 41% heritability for blood-related fear and 33% for BII phobia, making it the most heritable specific phobia (9, 48).”
From Combined Fainting and Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures as Significant Therapy Hurdles in Blood-Injury-Injection Phobia: A Mini-Review and Case Report (2022) · cites this paper as [48]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Van Houtem, C. M. H. H., Laine, M. L., Boomsma, D. I., Ligthart, L., van Wijk, A. J., & De Jongh, A.
- Affiliations
- Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam (NL)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Venue
- Journal of Anxiety Disorders
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2013-05
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 379-388
- ISSN
- 0887-6185 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2097218633
- Cited by
- 131
- References
- 75
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 1.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- dare.uva.nl
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Anxiety Disorders (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- VU Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Keywords
- specific phobia, heritability, twin studies, animal fear, additive genetic effects, unique environmental effects, anxiety disorders
- MeSH terms
- Fear, Humans, Phobic Disorders, Twin Studies as Topic, Genetic Predisposition to Disease
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