ArticlePsychological medicine2025
Heritability of generalized anxiety stability: a longitudinal twin study among young adults.
Article in Psychological medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Genome-wide meta-analysis of quantitatively measured generalized anxiety symptoms in individuals of European ancestry.Nature human behaviour · 2026Pooled it
- Research Review: A review of the past decade of family and genomic studies on adolescent mental health.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2025Review
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4 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundDespite the high prevalence of generalized anxiety among young adults, studies investigating factors that shape the course of these symptoms during the twenties are scarce. In addition, generalized anxiety can manifest in different ways, but it is unclear whether symptoms cluster under distinct dimensions in this age group. The current study addressed these gaps using data from the Twins Early Development Study. First, we examined genetic and environmental contributions to continuity and change in generalized anxiety symptoms in young adulthood and the heritability of a latent factor reflecting stability over this period. Next, to explore potential dimensions of generalized anxiety, we investigated the factorial structure of symptoms as well as etiological influences underpinning the different factors.
methodsThe sample comprised 6,429 twin pairs. Generalized anxiety was assessed at six waves (age 23-26 years).
resultsGenetic factors largely accounted for continuity and environmental factors for change in symptom severity. Furthermore, the heritability of stable generalized anxiety (60%) was substantially higher than that at any single time point (39-46%). Regarding the factorial structure of symptoms, we found evidence of two dimensions: worry-avoidance and somatic-distress symptoms. Genetic correlations (
conclusionsThe current findings suggest that extracting temporal stability provides the strongest opportunity to identify genetic influences on generalized anxiety. Moreover, the results indicate that differences between generalized anxiety dimensions are more likely attributable to environmental than genetic effects.
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