Genetic influence on life events during the last half of the life span

R Plomin; P Lichtenstein; N L Pedersen; G E McClearn; J R Nesselroade

doi:10.1037/0882-7974.5.1.25

Genetic influence on life events during the last half of the life span

R Plomin, P Lichtenstein, N L Pedersen, G E McClearn, J R Nesselroade

Social Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

208 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Genetic influence on perceptions of major events later in life was assessed with a combination of twin and adoption designs as part of the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA). The SATSA design includes 4 groups totaling 399 pairs of same-sex twins: identical and fraternal twins reared apart and matched twins reared together. The average age of the twins was 59 years. The results demonstrate significant genetic influence on reports of the occurrence of life events, especially for controllable events in which the individual can play an active role. Maximum likelihood model-fitting estimates of genetic influence indicate that 40% of the variance of the total life events score is due to genetic differences among individuals. How genetic factors can affect life experiences and directions for future research are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	25-30
Number of pages	6
Journal	Psychology and Aging
Volume	5
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.5.1.25
Publication status	Published - 1990

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title = "Genetic influence on life events during the last half of the life span",

abstract = "Genetic influence on perceptions of major events later in life was assessed with a combination of twin and adoption designs as part of the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA). The SATSA design includes 4 groups totaling 399 pairs of same-sex twins: identical and fraternal twins reared apart and matched twins reared together. The average age of the twins was 59 years. The results demonstrate significant genetic influence on reports of the occurrence of life events, especially for controllable events in which the individual can play an active role. Maximum likelihood model-fitting estimates of genetic influence indicate that 40% of the variance of the total life events score is due to genetic differences among individuals. How genetic factors can affect life experiences and directions for future research are discussed.",

author = "R Plomin and P Lichtenstein and Pedersen, {N L} and McClearn, {G E} and Nesselroade, {J R}",

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T1 - Genetic influence on life events during the last half of the life span

AU - Plomin, R

AU - Lichtenstein, P

AU - Pedersen, N L

AU - McClearn, G E

AU - Nesselroade, J R

PY - 1990

Y1 - 1990

N2 - Genetic influence on perceptions of major events later in life was assessed with a combination of twin and adoption designs as part of the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA). The SATSA design includes 4 groups totaling 399 pairs of same-sex twins: identical and fraternal twins reared apart and matched twins reared together. The average age of the twins was 59 years. The results demonstrate significant genetic influence on reports of the occurrence of life events, especially for controllable events in which the individual can play an active role. Maximum likelihood model-fitting estimates of genetic influence indicate that 40% of the variance of the total life events score is due to genetic differences among individuals. How genetic factors can affect life experiences and directions for future research are discussed.

AB - Genetic influence on perceptions of major events later in life was assessed with a combination of twin and adoption designs as part of the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA). The SATSA design includes 4 groups totaling 399 pairs of same-sex twins: identical and fraternal twins reared apart and matched twins reared together. The average age of the twins was 59 years. The results demonstrate significant genetic influence on reports of the occurrence of life events, especially for controllable events in which the individual can play an active role. Maximum likelihood model-fitting estimates of genetic influence indicate that 40% of the variance of the total life events score is due to genetic differences among individuals. How genetic factors can affect life experiences and directions for future research are discussed.

U2 - 10.1037/0882-7974.5.1.25

DO - 10.1037/0882-7974.5.1.25

M3 - Article

C2 - 2317298

SN - 0882-7974

VL - 5

SP - 25

EP - 30

JO - Psychology and Aging

JF - Psychology and Aging

IS - 1

ER -

Genetic influence on life events during the last half of the life span

Abstract

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