Madrid-Valero, Juan J; Barclay, Nicola L.; Rowe, Richard; Perach, Rotem; Buysse, Daniel J.; Ordoñana, Juan R.; Eley, Thalia C. and Gregory, Alice M.. 2021. Association between symptoms of sleep apnea and problem behaviors in young adult twins and siblings. Psychological Medicine, 51(7), 1175 -1182. ISSN 0033-2917 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Background: Sleep apnea is one of the most common sleep disorders and it is related to multiple negative health consequences. Previous studies have shown that sleep apnea is influenced by genetic factors. However, studies have not investigated the genetic and environmental influences of symptoms of sleep apnea in young adults. Furthermore, the underpinnings of the relationship between apnea symptoms and internalizing/externalizing problems are unknown. The objectives of this study were to estimate the magnitude of: 1) genetic and environmental influences on self-reported apnea symptoms; 2) the relationship between self-reported apnea symptoms and internalizing/externalizing traits; 3) genetic and environmental influences on the associations between self-reported apnea symptoms, internalizing behaviors and externalizing behaviors.

Methods: In a twin/sibling study, univariate and multivariate models were fitted to estimate both individual variance and sources of covariance between symptoms of sleep apnea and internalizing/externalizing behaviors.

Results: Our results show that genetic influences account for 40% the variance in sleep apnea symptoms. Moreover, there are modest associations between depression, anxiety and externalizing behaviors with apnea symptoms (ranging from r = .22 to .29). However, the origins of these associations differ. For example, whereas most of the covariation between symptoms of depression and sleep apnea can be explained by genes (95%), there was a larger role for the environment (53%) in the association between symptoms of anxiety and sleep apnea.

Conclusions: Genetic factors explain a significant proportion of variance in symptoms of apnea and most of the covariance with depression.

Item Type:	Article
Identification Number (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291719004070
Keywords:	apnea symptoms, behavioral symptoms, emotional difficulties, genetics, respiration disorder
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Psychology
Dates:	Date Event 20 December 2019 Accepted 6 February 2020 Published Online May 2021 Published
Item ID:	28089
Date Deposited:	21 Jan 2020 09:34
Last Modified:	29 Jun 2021 01:18
Peer Reviewed:	Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/28089

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