Rose R J, Ditto W B
Child Dev. 1983 Apr;54(2):361-8.
A 51-item fear survey was administered to more than 2,600 adolescents and adults, including m ore than 400 pairs of like-sex twins, to examine developmental patterns and genetic influences on common fears. Raw data were age-sex standardized and subjected to factor analysis, and preliminary analyses of the factor scores documented both age and genetic effects. Some fears habituate with age; others exhibit sensitization; and, for some fears, intensity is uniform across development. Genetic effects were found for all factors, but the magnitude of such effects varied. Based on these initial analyses, developmental patterns of genetic and environmental influences on self-assessed fears were examined in 354 pairs of like-sex twins, ages 14-34. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to predict a twin's fearfulness from the co-twin's fear, the age and zygosity of the twin pair, and the interactions of these 3 predictors. For all fear factors, co-twin's score and the interaction of co-twin's score with pair zygosity significantly contributed to the prediction of a twin's fearfulness, but the magnitude of both effects varied for different fears. For 2 fear factors, Personal Death and Loved One's Misfortunes, 3-way interactions of co-twin's score, age, and zygosity were observed. The findings suggest significant genetic modulation of developmental patterns in the acquisition and maintenance of some adaptive fears.
对2600多名青少年和成年人进行了一项包含51个项目的恐惧调查，其中包括400多对同性双胞胎，以研究常见恐惧的发展模式和遗传影响。原始数据进行了年龄性别标准化处理并进行了因子分析，对因子得分的初步分析记录了年龄和遗传效应。一些恐惧会随着年龄增长而习惯化；另一些则表现出敏感化；而且，对于某些恐惧，其强度在整个发育过程中保持一致。所有因子均发现有遗传效应，但效应大小各不相同。基于这些初步分析，在354对年龄在14至34岁之间的同性双胞胎中研究了遗传和环境对自我评估恐惧的影响的发展模式。采用分层多元回归，根据双胞胎的恐惧程度、双胞胎对的年龄和同卵性以及这三个预测因子的相互作用来预测双胞胎的恐惧程度。对于所有恐惧因子，双胞胎的得分以及双胞胎得分与双胞胎对同卵性的相互作用对预测双胞胎的恐惧程度有显著贡献，但这两种效应的大小因不同恐惧而异。对于“个人死亡”和“亲人不幸”这两个恐惧因子，观察到了双胞胎得分、年龄和同卵性的三向相互作用。研究结果表明，在某些适应性恐惧的习得和维持过程中，遗传对发展模式有显著调节作用。
