Longitudinal Genetic Analysis for Loneliness in Dutch Twins

Abstract In previous studies we obtained evidence that variation in loneliness has a genetic component. Based on adult twin data, the heritability estimate for loneliness, which was assessed as an ordinal trait, was 48%. These analyses were done on loneliness scores averaged over items (‘I feel lonely’ and ‘Nobody loves me’) and over time points. In this article we present a longitudinal analysis of loneliness data assessed in 5 surveys (1991 through 2002) in Dutch twins ( N = 8389) for the two separate items of the loneliness scale. From the longitudinal growth modeling it was found sufficien... Mehr ...