Genetic and environmental contributions to social anxiety across different ages: A meta-analytic approach to twin data

• Published in: Journal of anxiety disorders Vol. 28; no. 7; pp. 650 - 656
• Main Authors: Scaini, Simona, Belotti, Raffaella, Ogliari, Anna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2014
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Age of Onset; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anxiety - etiology; Anxiety - genetics; Child; Diseases in Twins - etiology; Diseases in Twins - genetics; Environment; Female; Gene-Environment Interaction; Genes; Humans; Male; Meta-analysis; Middle Aged; Phobic Disorders - etiology; Phobic Disorders - genetics; Psychiatry; Social anxiety; Social Environment; Twin Studies as Topic; Twin study; Twins - genetics; Young Adult; Environment; Twin study; Genes; Social anxiety; Meta-analysis
• ISSN: 0887-6185; 1873-7897; 1873-7897
• DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.07.002

•Estimates of genetic and environmental influences vary widely for social anxiety.•We calculated meta-analytic estimations of aetiological influences.•Genetic and non-shared environmental factors explain most of the individual differences.•Shared environmental factors seem to be less relevant.•Results support intervention protocols for social anxiety. Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and social anxiety symptoms (SAS) have been largely studied both epidemiologically and genetically, however, estimates of genetic and environmental influences for these phenotypes widely vary across reports. Based upon available literature, 13 cohorts (42,585 subjects) were included in 3 meta-analytic estimates of the standardized variance components of aetiological influences on SAD/SAS, on the effect of age and of phenotype (symptoms vs. diagnosis). The proportions of variance accounted for by genetic and environmental factors were calculated by averaging estimates among studies, and pondered by the number of individuals in each sample. Meta-analytic estimations showed that genetic and non-shared environmental factors explain most of individual differences for SAD/SAS. In adults, the genetic contribution was half than that in younger patients, with higher contribution of non-shared environmental influences. In contrast, the shared environmental factors seem to be less relevant.