The Genetics of Emotional Ontogeny (GEO)  

GEO Frequently Asked Questions How many families have been involved in your study? How old are the oldest twins in your project? How many genetically identical and fraternal twins have been involved in your study? Will I get individual results about my twins? Where and when will group results be presented? Q: How many families have been involved in your study? A: Over 780 families have participated in at least one aspect of the project. Q: How old are the twins in your project? A: Our oldest sets of twins were born in 1991, and our youngest sets were born in 2003. Q: How many genetically identical and fraternal twins have been involved in your study? A: Out of 784 twin pairs, 271 pairs are genetically identical, 270 are same-sex fraternal, and 231 are boy/girl pairs. There are only 12 pairs of undetermined zygosity. Families who have participated in the project are welcomed to seek feedback on their twins' zygosity based on the questionnaire completed by the parents. If families have any updates, like DNA testing results, be sure to contact us! Q: Will I get individual results about my twins? A: No. All traits are examined together as one large sample. The surveys completed by parents were compiled in databases using confidential family identification numbers. Most of our research questions require a sample of 500-600 families, so analysis is often delayed for significant amounts of time. Ultimately, findings will help us better understand child development. Q: Where and when will group results be presented? A: Results are presented periodically in the Wisconsin Twin Newsletter, book chapters, and academic journal articles. Preliminary findings are also presented at international child development and psychology conferences. Because the study is longitudinal, staff is in the process of compiling and analyzing data collected over many years. It will take several years before all of our data have been scored and published.