Neonatal temperament in monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs

Abstract

To determine if neonatal temperament was influenced by genetic factors, temperament was assessed in 316 newborn twins from 47 pairs of monozygotic (MZ) twins, 39 pairs of same-sex dizygotic (DZ) twins, and 72 pairs of opposite-sex dizygotic twins. The neonatal assessment focused on irritability, resistance to soothing, activity level, reactivity, and reinforcement value. Examination of intraclass correlations for MZ and DZ twins and the results of model-fitting analyses indicated that heritability estimates for neonatal temperament were not significantly different from zero, and that there was substantial environmental influence on neonatal temperament. Specific perinatal indicators of risk were found to account for some of the intrapair differences observed for the behavioral variables. It was concluded that there is no clear pattern of genetic influence on temperament in the neonatal period.