| Chapter title |
Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Loneliness in Adults: The Netherlands Twin Register Study
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Behavior Genetics, November 2005
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s10519-005-6040-8 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Dorret I. Boomsma, Gonneke Willemsen, Conor V. Dolan, Louise C. Hawkley, John T. Cacioppo |
| Abstract |
Heritability estimates based on two small studies in children indicate that the genetic contribution to individual differences in loneliness is approximately 50%. Heritability estimates of complex traits such as loneliness may change across the lifespan, however, as the frequency, duration, and range of exposure to environmental influences accrues, or as the expression of genetic factors changes. We examined data on loneliness from 8,387 young adult and adult Dutch twins who had participated in longitudinal survey studies. A measure of loneliness was developed based on factor analyses of items of the YASR (The Young Adult Self Report). Variation in loneliness was analyzed with genetic structural equation models. The estimate of genetic contributions to variation in loneliness in adults was 48%, which is similar to the heritability estimates found previously in children. There was no evidence for sex or age differences in genetic architecture. Sex differences in prevalence were significant, but we did not see an association with age or birth cohort. All resemblance between twin relatives was explained by shared genes, without any suggestion of a contribution of shared environmental factors. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 3 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 1 | 33% |
| Unknown | 2 | 67% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 2 | 67% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 33% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 191 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 2 | 1% |
| Ireland | 1 | <1% |
| Netherlands | 1 | <1% |
| Sweden | 1 | <1% |
| United States | 1 | <1% |
| Unknown | 185 | 97% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 29 | 15% |
| Student > Bachelor | 29 | 15% |
| Researcher | 18 | 9% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 15 | 8% |
| Professor | 10 | 5% |
| Other | 40 | 21% |
| Unknown | 50 | 26% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Psychology | 59 | 31% |
| Social Sciences | 22 | 12% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 11 | 6% |
| Medicine and Dentistry | 10 | 5% |
| Neuroscience | 6 | 3% |
| Other | 24 | 13% |
| Unknown | 59 | 31% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 110. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 28 March 2023.
All research outputs
#385,227
of 25,584,565 outputs
Outputs from Behavior Genetics
#16
of 971 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#471
of 76,917 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Behavior Genetics
#2
of 6 outputs
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