Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ws8qp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T11:06:29.194Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Common aetiology for diverse language skills in 41/2-year-old twins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2006

MARIANNA E. HAYIOU-THOMAS
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of York
YULIA KOVAS
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
NICOLE HARLAAR
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
ROBERT PLOMIN
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London
DOROTHY V. M. BISHOP
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford
PHILIP S. DALE
Affiliation:
Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Missouri-Columbia

Abstract

Multivariate genetic analysis was used to examine the genetic and environmental aetiology of the interrelationships of diverse linguistic skills. This study used data from a large sample of 4½-year-old twins who were tested on measures assessing articulation, phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and verbal memory. Phenotypic analysis suggested two latent factors: articulation (2 measures) and general language (the remaining 7), and a genetic model incorporating these factors provided a good fit to the data. Almost all genetic and shared environmental influences on the 9 measures acted through the two latent factors. There was also substantial aetiological overlap between the two latent factors, with a genetic correlation of 0·64 and shared environment correlation of 1·00. We conclude that to a large extent, the same genetic and environmental factors underlie the development of individual differences in a wide range of linguistic skills.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2006 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

We gratefully acknowledge the ongoing contribution of the parents and children in the Twin Early Development Study (TEDS). TEDS is supported by a programme grant (G9424799) from the UK Medical Research Council.