Age-Related Changes in Heritability of Behavioral Phenotypes Over Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A Meta-Analysis
Open accessAbstract
The relative proportions of genetic and environmental variance in behavioral measures have been studied extensively. A growing body of literature has examined changes in heritability measures over time, but we are unaware of any prior efforts to assess developmental heritability changes for multiple behavioral phenotypes using multiple data sources. We have chosen to explore the proportional genetic influences on a variety of behaviors during the genetically and environmentally labile adolescent and young adult years. This meta-analysis examined 8 behavioral domains and incorporated only primary research articles reporting two or more heritability time points in order to minimize the age-to-age error variability. Linear regression analyses revealed significant cross-time heritability increases for externalizing behaviors, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, IQ, and social attitudes and nonsignificant increases for alcohol consumption, and nicotine initiation, but no evidence of heritability changes for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. A variety of mechanisms may underlie these findings including the rising importance of active genotype-environment correlation, an increase in gene expression, or proportional reductions in environmental variance. Additional longitudinal studies and the inclusion of measures of total variance in primary research reports will aid in distinguishing between these possibilities. Further studies exploring heritability changes beyond young adulthood would also benefit our understanding of factors influencing heritability of behavioral traits over the lifespan.
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Increases in the heritability of IQ from childhood (about 40 percent) to adulthood (estimates range from 60 percent to 80 percent) are well-documented in studies of behavioral genetics.
“Increases in the heritability of IQ from childhood (about 40 percent) to adulthood (estimates range from 60 percent to 80 percent) are well-documented in studies of behavioral genetics and possibly reflect increasing control of the individual (vs.parents) over environment (Bergen, Gardner and Kendler [2007]; McGue, Bouchard, Iacono et al. [1993]; Plomin, DeFries, Craig et al. [2002]).”
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- Authors
- Bergen, S. E., Gardner, C. O., & Kendler, K. S.
- Affiliations
- Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kendler, Kenneth S.
- Venue
- Twin Research and Human Genetics
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2007-06-01
- Volume
- 10
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 423-433
- ISSN
- 1832-4274 (ISSN-L)
- 1839-2628
- OpenAlex
- W2008956300
- Cited by
- 461
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 30 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 2.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Twin Research and Human Genetics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Mental Health (MH-49492, MH-20030, R01MH049492)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA011287, DA011287)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Keywords
- heritability, behavioral phenotypes, adolescence, early adulthood, externalizing problems, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, IQ, social attitudes, alcohol consumption, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, genotype-environment correlation, genetic variance, environmental variance
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aging, Alcohol Drinking, Anxiety, Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity, Attitude, Behavior, Child, Child Behavior Disorders, Cognition, Depression, Humans, Middle Aged, Sex Characteristics, Social Behavior, Social Environment, Twin Studies as Topic, Heredity
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