title: Does parental divorce moderate the heritability of body dissatisfaction? An extension of previous gene-environment interaction effects.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous research suggests that parental divorce moderates genetic influences on body dissatisfaction. Specifically, the heritability of body dissatisfaction is higher in children of divorced versus intact families, suggesting possible gene-environment interaction effects. However, prior research is limited to a single, self-reported measure of body dissatisfaction. The primary aim of this study was to examine whether these findings extend to a different dimension of body dissatisfaction: body image perceptions.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 1,534 female twins from the Minnesota Twin Family Study, aged 16-20 years. The Body Rating Scale (BRS) was used to assess body image perceptions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although BRS scores were heritable in twins from divorced and intact families, the heritability estimates in the divorced group were not significantly greater than estimates in the intact group. However, there were differences in nonshared environmental effects, where the magnitude of these environmental influences was larger in the divorced as compared with the intact families.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different dimensions of body dissatisfaction (i.e., negative self-evaluation versus body image perceptions) may interact with environmental risk, such as parental divorce, in discrete ways. Future research should examine this possibility and explore differential gene-environment interactions using diverse measures.
authors: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Shannon M
authors: SM
authors: O'Connor
authors: Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
authors: Kelly L
authors: KL
authors: Klump
authors: Department of Behavioral Medicine, Genesys Regional Medical Center, Consortium for Advanced Psychology Training, Michigan State University Flint Area Medical Education, Flint, Michigan.
authors: Jessica L
authors: JL
authors: VanHuysse
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
authors: Matt
authors: M
authors: McGue
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
authors: William
authors: W
authors: Iacono
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001828:Body Image / Q000523:psychology*; D004243:Divorce / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008910:Minnesota; D010290:Parents; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012647:Self-Assessment; D014427:Twins / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: body dissatisfaction; eating disorders; gene-environment interaction; parental divorce; twins