Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Academic Performance : Cross-Lagged Associations from Adolescence to Young Adulthood
AbstractPhysical activity and academic performance are positively associated, but the direction of the association is poorly understood. This longitudinal study examined the direction and magnitude of the associations between leisure-time physical activity and academic performance throughout adolescence and young adulthood. The participants were Finnish twins (from 2,859 to 4,190 individuals/study wave) and their families. In a cross-lagged path model, higher academic performance at ages 12, 14 and 17 predicted higher leisure-time physical activity at subsequent time-points (standardized path coefficient at age 14: 0.07 (p < 0.001), age 17: 0.12 (p < 0.001) and age 24: 0.06 (p < 0.…
Associations between sports participation, cardiorespiratory fitness, and adiposity in young adult twins.
Exercise behavior, cardiorespiratory fitness, and obesity are strongly influenced by genetic factors. By studying young adult twins, we examined to what extent these interrelated traits have shared genetic and environmental etiologies. We studied 304 twin individuals selected from the population-based FinnTwin16 study. Physical activity was assessed with the Baecke questionnaire, yielding three indexes: sport index, leisure-time index, and work index. In this study, we focused on sport index, which describes sports participation. Body composition was determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and cardiorespiratory fitness using a bicycle ergometer exercise test with gas exchange ana…
Physical Activity and Academic Performance: Genetic and Environmental Associations
Introduction Physical activity and academic performance are believed to be associated. Though both traits are partially heritable, it remains unclear whether these traits also share a genetic and/or environmental background in common. We aimed to examine to what extent leisure time physical activity and academic performance share genetic and environmental effects from early adolescence to young adulthood. Methods Participants were Finnish twins (2543-2693 individuals/study wave) who reported their leisure-time physical activity at ages 12, 14, 17, and 24 yr. Academic performance was assessed with teacher-reported grade point averages at ages 12 and 14 yr and by self-reported educational lev…
Validity of five foot and ankle specific electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) instruments in patients undergoing elective orthopedic foot or ankle surgery
Background: Patient-reported outcomes (PROS) are widely accepted measures for evaluating outcomes of surgical interventions. As patient-reported information is stored in electronic health records, it is essential that there are valid electronic PRO (ePRO) instruments available for clinicians and researchers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of electronic versions of five widely used foot and ankle specific PRO instruments. Methods: Altogether 111 consecutive elective foot/ankle surgery patients were invited face-to-face to participate in this study. Patients completed electronic versions of the Foot and Ankle Ability Measure (FAAM), the Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS),…
Finnish Twin Research in the 1930s: Contributions of Arvo Lehtovaara and His Mentor, Eino Kaila.
We offer a brief sketch of an overlooked early twin researcher, Arvo Johannes Lehtovaara (1905–1985), Professor of Psychology at the University of Jyväskylä, 1939–1952, and the University of Helsinki, 1952–1970, with background notes on his mentor, Eino Kaila.
Genetic and Environmental Influences Underlying Externalizing Behaviors, Cigarette Smoking and Illicit Drug Use Across Adolescence
We investigated genetic and environmental influences common to adolescent externalizing behavior (at age 12), smoking (at age 14) and initiation of drug use (at age 17) using the FinnTwin12 cohort data. Multivariate Cholesky models were fit to data from 737 monozygotic and 722 dizygotic twin pairs. Heritability of externalizing behavior was 56%, that of smoking initiation/amount 20/32%, and initiation of drug use 27%. In the best-fitting model common environmental influences explained most of the covariance between externalizing behavior and smoking initiation (69%) and amount (77%). Covariance between smoking initiation/amount and drug use was due to additive genetic (42/22%) and common en…
Literacy skills seem to fuel literacy enjoyment, rather than vice versa
Children who like to read and write tend to be better at it. This association is typically interpreted as enjoyment impacting engagement in literacy activities, which boosts literacy skills. We fitted direction-of-causation models to partial data of 3690 Finnish twins aged 12. Literacy skills were rated by the twins' teachers and literacy enjoyment by the twins themselves. A bivariate twin model showed substantial genetic influences on literacy skills (70%) and literacy enjoyment (35%). In both skills and enjoyment, shared-environmental influences explained about 20% in each. The best-fitting direction-of-causation model showed that skills impacted enjoyment, while the influence in the othe…
Drinking, smoking, and educational achievement: Cross-lagged associations from adolescence to adulthood
Background Adolescent substance use is associated with lower educational achievement but the directionality of the association remains uncertain. We analyzed data on drinking, smoking and educational achievement to study the associations between substance use and education from early adolescence to young adulthood. Methods Longitudinal data from four time points (ages 12, 14, 17, and 19–27 years) from a population-based cohort study of Finnish twin individuals were used to estimate bivariate cross-lagged path models for substance use and educational achievement, adjusting for sex, parental covariates, and adolescent externalizing behavior. A total of 4761 individuals (49.4% females) were in…
The Older Finnish Twin Cohort : 45 Years of Follow-up
AbstractThe older Finnish Twin Cohort (FTC) was established in 1974. The baseline survey was in 1975, with two follow-up health surveys in 1981 and 1990. The fourth wave of assessments was done in three parts, with a questionnaire study of twins born during 1945–1957 in 2011–2012, while older twins were interviewed and screened for dementia in two time periods, between 1999 and 2007 for twins born before 1938 and between 2013 and 2017 for twins born in 1938–1944. The content of these wave 4 assessments is described and some initial results are described. In addition, we have invited twin-pairs, based on response to the cohortwide surveys, to participate in detailed in-person studies; these …
Early-onset tobacco use and suicide-related behavior – A prospective study from adolescence to young adulthood
Abstract Background Developmental relationships between tobacco use and suicide-related behaviors (SRB) remain unclear. Our objective was to investigate the longitudinal associations of tobacco use in adolescence and SRB in adulthood. Methods Using a prospective design, we examined whether tobacco use in adolescence is associated with SRB (intentional self-injury, suicide ideation) in young adulthood in a population-based sample of 1330 twins (626 males, 704 females). The baseline and follow-up data were collected by professionally administered semi-structured poly-diagnostic interviews at ages 14 and 22, respectively. Results After adjusting for multiple potential confounders, those who re…
FinnTwin12 Cohort: An Updated Review
AbstractThis review offers an update on research conducted with FinnTwin12 (FT12), the youngest of the three Finnish Twin Cohorts. FT12 was designed as a two-stage study. In the first stage, we conducted multiwave questionnaire research enrolling all eligible twins born in Finland during 1983–1987 along with their biological parents. In stage 2, we intensively studied a subset of these twins with in-school assessments at age 12 and semistructured poly-diagnostic interviews at age 14. At baseline, parents of intensively studied twins were administered the adult version of the interview. Laboratory studies with repeat interviews, neuropsychological tests, and collection of DNA were made of in…
Physical Activity and Academic Performance : Genetic and Environmental Associations
Introduction. Physical activity and academic performance are believed to be associated. Though both traits are partially heritable, it remains unclear whether these traits also share a genetic and/or environmental background in common. We aimed to examine to what extent leisure-time physical activity and academic performance share genetic and environmental effects from early adolescence to young adulthood. Methods. Participants were Finnish twins (2543–2693 individuals/study wave) who reported their leisure-time physical activity at ages 12, 14, 17 and 24. Academic performance was assessed with teacher-reported grade point averages at ages 12 and 14 and by self-reported educational levels a…
Incorporating Functional Genomic Information to Enhance Polygenic Signal and Identify Variants Involved in Gene-by-Environment Interaction for Young Adult Alcohol Problems
BACKGROUND: Characterizing aggregate genetic risk for alcohol misuse and identifying variants involved in gene-by-environment (G × E) interaction effects has so far been a major challenge. We hypothesized that functional genomic information could be used to enhance detection of polygenic signal underlying alcohol misuse and to prioritize identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) most likely to exhibit G × E effects.METHODS: We examined these questions in the young adult FinnTwin12 sample (n = 1,170). We used genomewide association estimates from an independent sample to derive 2 types of polygenic scores for alcohol problems in FinnTwin12. Genomewide polygenic scores included…
Structural validity of the Finnish Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) using the Rasch model.
Background: The 16-item patient-reported Manchester-Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) with subscales of pain, social interactions, and walking/standing has been claimed for strongest scientific evidence in measuring foot and ankle complaints. This study tests the validity of the Finnish MOXFQ for orthopaedic foot and ankle population using the Rasch analysis. Methods: We translated the MOXFQ into Finnish and used that translation in our study. MOXFQ scores were obtained from 183 patients. Response category distribution, item fit, coverage, targeting, item dependency, ability to measure latent trait (unidimensionality), internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha), and person separation index (PS…
Is diversity of leisure-time sport activities associated with low back and neck–shoulder region pain? A Finnish twin cohort study
This study investigates cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between the diversity of leisure-time sport activities and the frequencies of low back pain (LBP) and neck-shoulder region pain (NSP) in twins, including a cross-sectional within-pair design to adjust for potential familial confounding. Finnish twins born in 1975–79 (FinnTwin16 study) reported participation in leisure-time sport activities at the mean ages of 17 (1992–96) (n = 5096, 54% females) and 34 years (2010−12) (n = 3731, 57% females). Diversity assessed as the number of sport activities was categorized as 1, 2, 3, 4, and ≥ 5, excluding inactive individuals. The frequencies of LBP (n = 3201) and NSP (n = 3207), rep…
Motor Development and Physical Activity: A Longitudinal Discordant Twin-Pair Study.
ntroduction : Previous longitudinal research suggests that motor proficiency in early life predicts physical activity in adulthood. Familial effects including genetic and environmental factors could explain the association, but no long-term follow-up studies have taken into account potential confounding by genetic and social family background. The present twin study investigated whether childhood motor skill development is associated with leisure-time physical activity levels in adulthood independent of family background. Methods : Altogether, 1550 twin pairs from the FinnTwin12 study and 1752 twin pairs from the FinnTwin16 study were included in the analysis. Childhood motor development wa…
Childhood Verbal Development and Drinking Behaviors from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Discordant Twin-Pair Analysis
BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that better cognitive and verbal abilities in childhood predict earlier experimentation with alcohol and higher levels of drinking in adolescence, whereas poorer ability is related to a higher likelihood of remaining abstinent. Whether individual differences in language development in childhood predict differences in adolescent drinking behaviors has not been studied. METHODS: To address that question, we compared co-twins from twin pairs discordant for their childhood language development and studied associations of parental reports of within-pair differences in age at speaking words, age at learning to read, and expressive language skills during school age with…