Heritability of Anxious-Depressive and Withdrawn Behavior: Age-Related Changes During Adolescence

These findings are in agreement with earlier studies on age-specific effects of genes and shared environment on anxiety, depression, and withdrawn behavior in childhood and adolescence. The current study demonstrated that the decrease in the role of shared environment occurs after age 12. Hormonal changes accompanying the onset of puberty do not seem to explain the change in risk factors, as in 90% of the subjects puberty had already started. More knowledge on age-specific risk factors may offer opportunities for therapeutic interventions.