Twins: are they at risk? A longitudinal study of twins and nontwins from birth to 18 years of age.
The purpose of this study has been a comparison of a group of twins (145 paris) and a whole cohort of singletons (114,828 individuals) born 1953 and living in the Stockholm metropolitan area in 1963. The twins and singletons have been followed from birth onwards. A pertinent question is whether twins are at greater risk at birth and whether they are predisposed to below-average mental and physical growth. The results show that twins are more susceptible to lower birth weight, shorter gestation period and birth complications. These factors also seem to have a lasting effect on later physical and mental development. Monozygotic twins, twin girls, and male twins with low birth weight, seem to be particularly at risk for below-average mental and physical growth. An interaction between social background and birth weight can also be seen for the male twin group.
Alin Akerman
B
B
Department of Special Education, Stockholm Institute of Education, Sweden.
Fischbein
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D001724:Birth Weight; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007360:Intelligence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013548:Sweden; D014427:Twins / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic