FinnTwin12 Cohort: An Updated Review

Abstract

This review offers an update on research conducted with FinnTwin12 (FT12), the youngest of the three Finnish Twin Cohorts. FT12 was designed as a two-stage study. In the first stage, we conducted multiwave questionnaire research enrolling all eligible twins born in Finland during 1983–1987 along with their biological parents. In stage 2, we intensively studied a subset of these twins with in-school assessments at age 12 and semistructured poly-diagnostic interviews at age 14. At baseline, parents of intensively studied twins were administered the adult version of the interview. Laboratory studies with repeat interviews, neuropsychological tests, and collection of DNA were made of intensively studied twins during follow-up in early adulthood. The basic aim of the FT12 study design was to obtain information on individual, familial and school/neighborhood risks for substance use/abuse prior to the onset of regular tobacco and alcohol use and then track trajectories of use and abuse and their consequences into adulthood. But the longitudinal assessments were not narrowly limited to this basic aim, and with multiwave, multirater assessments from ages 11 to 12, the study has created a richly informative data set for analyses of gene–environment interactions of both candidate genes and genomewide measures with measured risk-relevant environments. Because 25 years have elapsed since the start of the study, we are planning a fifth-wave follow-up assessment.

DSM‐5 eating disorders among adolescents and young adults in Finland: A public health concern

“…Depending on the data collection wave, information was gathered by questionnaires from twins, parents, and teachers. Response rates were 85–90% across all waves (Kaprio, ; Rose et al, ). Figure shows the study participation flowchart.…”

Blood and skeletal muscle ageing determined by epigenetic clocks and their associations with physical activity and functioning

“…In brief, FTC includes three large cohort studies: 1) study of twins born before 1958, an older twin cohort; 2) in 1975-1979, Finntwin16 (FT16); and 3) in 1983-1987, Finntwin12 (FT12) [34][35][36]. All three twin cohorts have been studied in an intensive longitudinal manner, and several subprojects have been conducted in laboratory conditions.…”

Ketone body 3-hydroxybutyrate: a biomarker of aggression?

“…The FinnTwin12 study is a longitudinal population-based cohort of Finnish twins born in 1983-1987 that was initiated to track behavioral development and health habits from mid-childhood onward [20,21]. Twins and their families were identified through the Finnish Central Population Registry and initial enrollment of the twins occurred between the ages of 11 and 12.…”

“…Plasma was extracted immediately and stored at -80°C. Samples were processed in one batch in the autumn of 2010 using an automated high-throughput serum NMR metabolomics platform (i.e., the Brainshake/Nightengale platform) [21][22][23]. The metabolites utilized here were the amino acids (alanine, glutamine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, valine) and ketone bodies (acetate, acetoacetate, 3-hydroxybutyrate).…”