Examining the State-Trait Anxiety Relationship: A Behavioural Genetic Approach

Lau, Jennifer Y. F.; Eley, Thalia C.; Stevenson, Jim

doi:10.1007/s10802-005-9006-7

Cited by 77 publications

(68 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…This pattern of results has since been largely replicated in another study of 497 pairs of both male and female twins aged 8-16 years. This study additionally demonstrated that the co-occurrence between state and trait anxiety was mainly due to non-shared environmental factors-although genetic and shared environmental factors also played a role (Lau, Eley, & Stevenson, 2006).…”

Section: Anxiety: State Vs Traitmentioning

confidence: 52%

Genetic Influences on Anxiety in Children: What we’ve Learned and Where we’re Heading

Gregory

Eley

2007

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

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167

103

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Anxiety is a common problem, typically beginning early in life. This article explores reasons for individual differences in levels of anxiety among children, by reviewing the genetic literature. The plethora of research to date has demonstrated clearly that both genes and environmental influences play important roles in explaining differences in levels of anxiety of various types among children. This has encouraged researchers to search for specific genes and environmental influences upon anxiety. Despite important progress in identifying links between anxiety and specific genes-including associations between serotonin and dopamine genes and different symptoms of anxiety-overall, progress has been slow because multiple genes of small effect size are likely to influence anxiety. This article explains how the hunt for genes involved in anxiety is likely to benefit from genetically sensitive research, which examines the co-occurrence of symptoms; includes measures of the environment; and examines endophenotypes and risk pathways. KEY WORDS: anxiety; children; environment; genes; twins IntroductionAnxiety is characterized by fear, concern or dread. This may be related to a specific event or situation that is perceived threatening, or may be more pervasive. Individuals with high levels of anxiety may meet criteria for an anxiety disorder, of which there are many types (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV, American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Although anxiety is a common difficulty occurring throughout the life-course it typically begins early in life Kessler, Berglund, Demler, Jin, & Walters, 2005), which suggests that research examining the origins of anxiety may be beneficial in childhood. While most children show at least some symptoms of anxiety, the exact prevalence of anxiety disorders is debatable. For example, a review of epidemiological studies examining rates of anxiety disorders in preadolescent children reported prevalence rates between 2.6 and 41.2% (Cartwright-Hatton, McNicol, & Doubleday, 2006).Given the widespread nature of childhood anxiety, researchers are trying to understand more about why anxiety develops and persists. One research area of rapid growth in this respect is genetics and this type of research has tended to focus upon symptoms of anxiety within the full range as opposed to anxiety disorders. A sceptic may point out that we are stuck with the genes that we are born with and argue that therefore, understanding the way in which genes influence behavior is of little use. However, as will be discussed in the course of this article, it is becoming increasingly clear that although it is true that our genes do not change throughout development, genes may become more or less influential over time; and the environment can influence the way in which our genes impact upon our emotions and behaviors. This article will document the progress that has been made in understanding genetic and environmental influences on childhood anxiety. Although there are numerous reviews of ...

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Section: Anxiety: State Vs Traitmentioning

confidence: 52%

Genetic Influences on Anxiety in Children: What we’ve Learned and Where we’re Heading

Gregory

Eley

2007

Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev

Self Cite

167

103

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Therefore, it is possible that the assessment of trait anxiety may be influenced by state anxiety and that anxiety state may be influenced by circumstances. This interaction between state and trait anxiety and situations may lead to a low estimation of heritability (Lau et al, 2006). Future work should therefore include studies designed to evaluate gender-specific validity of the AUDIT and the STAI scores and also exclude possible interaction between state and trait anxiety.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…State anxiety is primarily environmentally influenced, while trait anxiety reveals a roughly equal contribution of genetic and non-shared environmental factors (Lau et al, 2006;Legrand et al, 1999). As state and trait anxiety are distinct, the relationships between state anxiety or trait anxiety and AUD, with regard to genetic and environmental contributions, may be different.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships Between State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test Scores Among Korean Twins and Families: The Healthy Twin Study

Sung

Lee²,

Song

et al. 2011

Twin Res Hum Genet

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We explored heritabilities of the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), and associations including genetic and environmental correlations between the phenotypes among Korean twins and their families. We analyzed the data of 1,748 participants (835 men, 913 women, 656 individuals of monozygotic twins, 173 individuals of same-sexed dizygotic twins, 919 non-twin family members, age 30–79 years) from the Healthy Twin study. Heritabilities and bivariate analyses were assessed using the SOLAR package software. In the methods of generalized estimation equations, women in the 4th quartile of state and trait scores were 17% and 15%, respectively more likely to be hazardous alcohol users compared to women in the lower three quartiles (P< .05). However, there were no significant associations between these phenotypes in men. After adjusting for age and squared age, the heritability estimates were 0.26 in men and 0.34 in women for the state score; for the trait score, 0.35 in men and 0.31 in women; for the AUDIT score, 0.32 in men and 0.37 in women (P< .001). After adjusting for age and squared age, there was a significant genetic correlation between the trait score and the AUDIT score, and a significant non-genetic correlation between the state score and the AUDIT score in women, while there were no significant genetic or non-genetic correlations between these phenotypes in men. The STAI and AUDIT scores are heritable in Koreans and the relationships between these phenotypes may be inconsistent by sex.

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“…In addition, since we did not find higher state-anxiety levels, having a child with ADHD did not necessarily result in higher anxiety levels. Lau et al (24) suggested that state-anxiety was highly influenced by environmental issues whereas trait-anxiety was particularly influenced by genetics and by the environmental issues that were not common among first-degree relatives. Because only lifetime anxiety symptoms (trait-anxiety) were discrepant between the mothers' groups, our results might suggest that higher levels of anxiety among mothers might not be specifically related to current environmental stressors (i.e., offspring behavior and its consequences in school, familial, and social environments).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anxiety and depression in parents of a Brazilian non-clinical sample of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) students

Segenreich

Fortes

Coutinho

et al. 2009

Braz J Med Biol Res

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Higher prevalence rates of anxiety and depression have been reported in parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The interaction between the burden of ADHD in offspring, a higher prevalence rate of this highly inherited disorder in parents, and comorbidities may explain this finding. Our objective was to investigate levels of ADHD, anxious and depressive symptomatology, and their relationship in parents of ADHD children from a non-clinical sample using a dimensional approach. The sample included 396 students enrolled in all eight grades of a public school who were screened for ADHD using the SNAP IV rating scale. Positive cases were confirmed through a semi-structured interview. Parents of all 26 ADHD students and 31 paired controls were enrolled. A sample of 36 parents of ADHD children (21 mothers, 15 fathers) and 30 parents of control children (18 mothers, 12 fathers) completed the Adult Self Report Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory in order to investigate anxious and depressive symptomatology. Probands' mothers presented a higher level of ADHD symptomatology (with only inattention being a significant cluster). Again, mothers of ADHD children presented higher depressive and anxiety levels; however, these did not correlate with their own ADHD symptomatology. Only trait-anxiety levels were higher in ADHD mothers. Our findings suggest that: 1) anxious and depressive symptoms might be more prevalent in mothers of ADHD students; 2) anxious and depressive symptomatology might be independent of impairment associated with ADHD symptoms; 3) anxious and depressive symptoms are independent of the presence of ADHD.

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Examining the State-Trait Anxiety Relationship: A Behavioural Genetic Approach

Cited by 77 publications

References 35 publications

Genetic Influences on Anxiety in Children: What we’ve Learned and Where we’re Heading

Genetic Influences on Anxiety in Children: What we’ve Learned and Where we’re Heading

Relationships Between State and Trait Anxiety Inventory and Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test Scores Among Korean Twins and Families: The Healthy Twin Study

Anxiety and depression in parents of a Brazilian non-clinical sample of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) students

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