title: Stability of Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Anxiety Symptoms in Older Adulthood.
abstract: Anxiety symptoms are common in later life and are associated with diverse adverse health outcomes. Little is known about how genetic and environmental influences on anxiety symptoms might vary across older adulthood. The purpose of this study was to explore change and stability of contributions to anxiety symptoms across older adulthood. We examined data from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging (SATSA). Between the years 1984 and 2010, 2021 participants (including 753 complete twin pairs) completed up to seven assessments containing two measures of anxiety symptoms. Longitudinal genetic simplex models were fit to examine the stability and change in genetic and environmental influences. Amplification of genetic factors at ages 75-80 suggests tentative new genetic contributions to anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that the heritability of anxiety symptoms may increase later in life. Physiological factors associated with aging are discussed as potential factors explaining this increase.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, 3620 South McClintock Ave., SGM 522, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-1061, USA. petkus@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Petkus
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, 3620 South McClintock Ave., SGM 522, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-1061, USA.|Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gatz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA.
authors.forename: Chandra A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093-0603, USA.|VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, CA, 92093-0603, USA.
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Kremen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093-0603, USA.|VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, 92093-0603, USA.
authors.forename: Julie Loebach
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wetherell
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000235:genetics*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010555:Personality Inventory; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic / Q000235:genetics; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic / Q000235:genetics
keywords: Anxiety; Genetics; Longitudinal; Older adults