Genetic Epidemiology, Translational Neurogenomics, Psychiatric Genetics and Statistical Genetics Laboratories investigate the pattern of disease in families, particularly identical and non-identical twins, to assess the relative importance of genes and environment in a variety of important health problems.
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PMID
34488063
TITLE
Educational attainment of same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins: An individual-level pooled study of 19 twin cohorts.
ABSTRACT
Comparing twins from same- and opposite-sex pairs can provide information on potential sex differences in a variety of outcomes, including socioeconomic-related outcomes such as educational attainment. It has been suggested that this design can be applied to examine the putative role of intrauterine exposure to testosterone for educational attainment, but the evidence is still disputed. Thus, we established an international database of twin data from 11 countries with 88,290 individual dizygotic twins born over 100 years and tested for differences between twins from same- and opposite-sex dizygotic pairs in educational attainment. Effect sizes with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by linear regression models after adjusting for birth year and twin study cohort. In contrast to the hypothesis, no difference was found in women (β = -0.05 educational years, 95% CI -0.11, 0.02). However, men with a same-sex co-twin were slightly more educated than men having an opposite-sex co-twin (β = 0.14 educational years, 95% CI 0.07, 0.21). No consistent differences in effect sizes were found between individual twin study cohorts representing Europe, the USA, and Australia or over the cohorts born during the 20th century, during which period the sex differences in education reversed favoring women in the latest birth cohorts. Further, no interaction was found with maternal or paternal education. Our results contradict the hypothesis that there would be differences in the intrauterine testosterone levels between same-sex and opposite-sex female twins affecting education. Our findings in men may point to social dynamics within same-sex twin pairs that may benefit men in their educational careers.
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
DATE PUBLISHED
2021 Nov
HISTORY
PUBSTATUS PUBSTATUSDATE
received 2021/03/15
revised 2021/08/16
accepted 2021/08/17
pubmed 2021/09/07 06:00
medline 2021/09/07 06:00
entrez 2021/09/06 20:21
AUTHORS
NAME COLLECTIVENAME LASTNAME FORENAME INITIALS AFFILIATION AFFILIATIONINFO
Silventoinen K Silventoinen Karri K Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. Electronic address: karri.silventoinen@helsinki.fi.
Bogl LH Bogl Leonie H LH Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Epidemiology, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Jelenkovic A Jelenkovic Aline A Department of Physiology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain; Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Vuoksimaa E Vuoksimaa Eero E Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM, Helsinki, Finland.
Latvala A Latvala Antti A Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Li W Li Weilong W Department of Social Research, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Tan Q Tan Qihua Q Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
Zhang D Zhang Dongfeng D Department of Public Health, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao, China.
Pang Z Pang Zengchang Z Department of Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention, Qingdao Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Qingdao, China.
Ordoñana JR Ordoñana Juan R JR Department of Human Anatomy and Psychobiology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
Sánchez-Romera JF Sánchez-Romera Juan F JF Department of Human Anatomy and Psychobiology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain.
Colodro-Conde L Colodro-Conde Lucia L Department of Human Anatomy and Psychobiology, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain; QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
Willemsen G Willemsen Gonneke G Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Bartels M Bartels Meike M Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
van Beijsterveldt CEM van Beijsterveldt Catharina E M CEM Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Rebato E Rebato Esther E Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain.
Corley RP Corley Robin P RP Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
Huibregtse BM Huibregtse Brooke M BM Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
Hopper JL Hopper John L JL Twin Research Australia, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Tyler J Tyler Jessica J Twin Research Australia, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Duncan GE Duncan Glen E GE Washington State Twin Registry, Washington State University - Health Sciences Spokane, Spokane, WA, USA.
Buchwald D Buchwald Dedra D Washington State Twin Registry, Washington State University - Health Sciences Spokane, Spokane, WA, USA.
Silberg JL Silberg Judy L JL Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Maes HH Maes Hermine H HH Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Psychiatry & Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Kandler C Kandler Christian C Department of Psychology, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany.
Cozen W Cozen Wendy W Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Hwang AE Hwang Amie E AE Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Mack TM Mack Thomas M TM Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Nelson TL Nelson Tracy L TL Department of Health and Exercise Sciences and Colorado School of Public Health, Colorado State University, USA.
Whitfield KE Whitfield Keith E KE Psychology Department, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Medda E Medda Emanuela E Istituto Superiore di Sanità Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Rome, Italy.
Nisticò L Nisticò Lorenza L Istituto Superiore di Sanità Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Rome, Italy.
Toccaceli V Toccaceli Virgilia V Istituto Superiore di Sanità Centre for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health, Rome, Italy.
Krueger RF Krueger Robert F RF Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
McGue M McGue Matt M Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Pahlen S Pahlen Shandell S Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA.
Martin NG Martin Nicholas G NG Genetic Epidemiology Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
Medland SE Medland Sarah E SE Genetic Epidemiology Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
Montgomery GW Montgomery Grant W GW Genetic Epidemiology Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia.
Heikkilä K Heikkilä Kauko K Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Derom CA Derom Catherine A CA Centre of Human Genetics, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ghent University Hospitals, Ghent, Belgium.
Vlietinck RF Vlietinck Robert F RF Centre of Human Genetics, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Loos RJF Loos Ruth J F RJF The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine, The Mindich Child Health and Development Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Magnusson PKE Magnusson Patrik K E PKE Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Pedersen NL Pedersen Nancy L NL Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Dahl Aslan AK Dahl Aslan Anna K AK Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; School of Health Sciences, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden; Institute of Gerontology and Aging Research Network-Jönköping (ARN-J), School of Health and Welfare Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden.
Hotopf M Hotopf Matthew M NIHR Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and, Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Sumathipala A Sumathipala Athula A Institute of Research & Development, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka; Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences, School for Primary Care Research (SPCR), Faculty of Health, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK.
Rijsdijk F Rijsdijk Fruhling F King's College London, MRC Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, London, UK.
Siribaddana SH Siribaddana Sisira H SH Institute of Research & Development, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka; Faculty of Medicine & Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Saliyapura, Sri Lanka.
Rose RJ Rose Richard J RJ Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Sørensen TIA Sørensen Thorkild I A TIA Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Basic Metabolic Research, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Public Health (Section of Epidemiology), Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Boomsma DI Boomsma Dorret I DI Department of Biological Psychology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Kaprio J Kaprio Jaakko J Institute for Molecular Medicine FIMM, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
INVESTIGATORS
JOURNAL
VOLUME: 136
ISSUE:
TITLE: Hormones and behavior
ISOABBREVIATION: Horm Behav
YEAR: 2021
MONTH: Nov
DAY:
MEDLINEDATE:
SEASON:
CITEDMEDIUM: Internet
ISSN: 1095-6867
ISSNTYPE: Electronic
MEDLINE JOURNAL
MEDLINETA: Horm Behav
COUNTRY: United States
ISSNLINKING: 0018-506X
NLMUNIQUEID: 0217764
PUBLICATION TYPE
PUBLICATIONTYPE TEXT
Journal Article
COMMENTS AND CORRECTIONS
GRANTS
GENERAL NOTE
KEYWORDS
KEYWORD
Education
Testosterone exposure
Twin testosterone transfer hypothesis
Twins
MESH HEADINGS
SUPPLEMENTARY MESH
GENE SYMBOLS
CHEMICALS
OTHER ID's
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