Tore Elena C, Antoniou Evangelia E, Reed Keith, Southwood Taunton R, Smits Luc, McCleery Joseph P, Zeegers Maurice P
Department of Complex Genetics,Care and Public Health Research Institute (School CAPHRI),Maastricht University,Maastricht,the Netherlands.
Twins and Multiple Births Association,The Manor House,Church Hill,Aldershot,UK.
Twin Res Hum Genet. 2018 Jun;21(3):253-262. doi: 10.1017/thg.2018.13. Epub 2018 Apr 12.
Problem behaviors are of increasing public health concern. Twin studies have revealed substantial genetic and environmental influences on children's behavior, and examining birth-weight difference could allow the identification of the specific contribution of multiple non-shared prenatal environmental factors. The Twins and Multiple Births Association Heritability Study, a UK, volunteer-based study, recruited mothers of twins aged 18 months to 5 years; 960 twins (480 pairs) were included in the analysis. Twins' mothers answered questions relative to their pregnancy and their twins' characteristics, and completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) 1½-5. The association between the absolute birth-weight difference and each CBCL scale's score difference was analyzed by means of multiple linear regressions. Expected mean CBCL score differences were calculated. In monozygotic (MZ) twins, statistically and clinically significant associations were found between intrapair birth-weight difference and difference in total problems, internalizing problems, and emotional reactiveness. No significant results were observed neither in dizygotic (DZ) twins when analyzed as a separate group nor in MZ and DZ twins combined. The results of the present study suggest that with increasing the absolute birth-weight difference, the intrapair difference in total problems, internalizing behaviors and emotionality increases, with smaller twins being at major risk for later behavior problems. Moreover, these results suggest a causal association between birth weight and behavior development.
问题行为日益受到公共卫生领域的关注。双胞胎研究揭示了基因和环境对儿童行为有重大影响，而研究出生体重差异有助于确定多种非共享产前环境因素的具体作用。双胞胎与多胞胎协会遗传力研究是一项基于英国志愿者的研究，招募了18个月至5岁双胞胎的母亲；960名双胞胎（480对）纳入分析。双胞胎的母亲回答了有关其孕期及双胞胎特征的问题，并完成了1½ - 5岁儿童行为量表（CBCL）。通过多元线性回归分析了绝对出生体重差异与每个CBCL量表得分差异之间的关联。计算了预期的CBCL平均得分差异。在同卵双胞胎（MZ）中，发现双胞胎对间出生体重差异与总问题、内化问题及情绪反应性差异之间存在统计学和临床意义上的关联。在异卵双胞胎（DZ）单独分析时以及MZ和DZ双胞胎合并分析时均未观察到显著结果。本研究结果表明，随着绝对出生体重差异增大，双胞胎对间总问题、内化行为和情绪方面的差异增加，较小的双胞胎日后出现行为问题的风险更大。此外，这些结果表明出生体重与行为发展之间存在因果关联。
