Sarah E Medland
Biographic Data
| ID | 1913435 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Sarah E Medland |
| GIVEN NAMES | Sarah E |
| FAMILY NAME | Medland |
| SIGNATURE | MEDLAND S E |
| AFFILIATIONS | QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1382-380X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 378 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Predicting adolescent disordered eating and behaviours: Exploring environmental moderators of polygenic risk
BACKGROUND: Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the risk of developing disordered eating, with twin studies demonstrating environmental factors moderate genetic susceptibility. To date, gene-environment interactions leveraging polygenic risk scores (PRS) have not been studied in disordered eating phenotypes beyond anorexia nervosa (AN). This study investigated if polygenic risk for AN interacts with established environmental eati…
Genetics of monozygotic twins reveals the impact of environmental sensitivity on psychiatric and neurodevelopmental phenotypes
Individual sensitivity to environmental exposures may be genetically influenced. This genotype-by-environment interplay implies differences in phenotypic variance across genotypes, but these variants have proven challenging to detect. Genome-wide association studies of monozygotic twin differences are conducted through family-based variance analyses, which are more robust to the systemic biases that impact population-based methods. We combined da…
Genome-wide analysis identifies genetic effects on reproductive success and ongoing natural selection at the Fads locus
Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million individuals
We conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment (EA) in a sample of ~3 million individuals and identify 3,952 approximately uncorrelated genome-wide-significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A genome-wide polygenic predictor, or polygenic index (PGI), explains 12–16% of EA variance and contributes to risk prediction for ten diseases. Direct effects (i.e., controlling for parental PGIs) explain roughly half th…
Analysis of structural brain asymmetries in attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder in 39 datasets
OBJECTIVE: Some studies have suggested alterations of structural brain asymmetry in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but findings have been contradictory and based on small samples. Here, we performed the largest ever analysis of brain left-right asymmetry in ADHD, using 39 datasets of the ENIGMA consortium. METHODS: We analyzed asymmetry of subcortical and cerebral cortical structures in up to 1,933 people with ADHD and 1,829 una…
Comorbid Chronic Pain and Depression: Shared Risk Factors and Differential Antidepressant Effectiveness
The bidirectional relationship between depression and chronic pain is well-recognized, but their clinical management remains challenging. Here we characterize the shared risk factors and outcomes for their comorbidity in the Australian Genetics of Depression cohort study ( N = 13,839). Participants completed online questionnaires about chronic pain, psychiatric symptoms, comorbidities, treatment response and general health. Logistic regression mo…
Identification of 371 genetic variants for age at first sex and birth linked to externalising behaviour
Symptom-level modelling unravels the shared genetic architecture of anxiety and depression
The psychosocial impact of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy as a predictor of postpartum depression
This study examined the extent to which psychosocial impact of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy predicts postpartum depression using a retrospective design. Data from a cross-sectional survey investigating women's experiences of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy were used ( N = 861). Hierarchical logistic regression models revealed that the psychosocial impact of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy appears to be predictive of postpartum depre…
Genome-wide association study identifies 48 common genetic variants associated with handedness
Handedness has been extensively studied because of its relationship with language and the over-representation of left-handers in some neurodevelopmental disorders. Using data from the UK Biobank, 23andMe and the International Handedness Consortium, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of handedness (N = 1,766,671). We found 41 loci associated (P < 5 × 10−8) with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. Tissue-enrichmen…
Discovery of the first genome-wide significant risk loci for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly heritable childhood behavioral disorder affecting 5% of children and 2.5% of adults. Common genetic variants contribute substantially to ADHD susceptibility, but no variants have been robustly associated with ADHD. We report a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 20,183 individuals diagnosed with ADHD and 35,191 controls that identifies variants surpassing genome-wide significance in…
Genome-wide association analyses identify 44 risk variants and refine the genetic architecture of major depression
Hidden heritability due to heterogeneity across seven populations
Meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies, which dominate genetic discovery, are based on data from diverse historical time periods and populations. Genetic scores derived from genome-wide association studies explain only a fraction of the heritability estimates obtained from whole-genome studies on single populations, known as the ‘hidden heritability’ puzzle. Using seven sampling populations (n = 35,062), we test whether hidden heritabil…
Genetic evidence of assortative mating in humans
Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses
Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment
Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology
Associations Between Depression and Anxiety Symptoms and Retinal Vessel Caliber in Adolescents and Young Adults
OBJECTIVE: Previous longitudinal studies suggest that depression and anxiety are associated with risk for cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to test whether an association between depression and anxiety symptoms and retinal vessel caliber, an indicator of subclinical cardiovascular risk, is apparent as early as adolescence and young adulthood. METHODS: Participants were 865 adolescents and young adults who participated in th…
GWAS of 126,559 Individuals Identifies Genetic Variants Associated with Educational Attainment
Genetic College Many genomic elements in humans are associated with behavior, including educational attainment. In a genome-wide association study including more than 100,000 samples, Rietveld et al. (p. 1467 , published online 30 May; see the Perspective by Flint and Munafò ) looked for genes related to educational attainment in Caucasians. Small genetic effects at three loci appeared to impact educational attainment.
Genetic Influences on Life Span and Its Relationship to Personality: A 16-Year Follow-Up Study of a Sample of Aging Twins
OBJECTIVE: The relationship between personality and life span is not well understood, and no study to date has examined genetic influences underlying this relationship. The present study aimed to explore the phenotypic and genetic relationship between personality and life span, as well as genetic influences on all-cause mortality. METHODS: Prospective community-based study including 3752 twin individuals older than 50 years. Neuroticism, psychoti…
A Genome-Wide Analysis of Liberal and Conservative Political Attitudes
The assumption that the transmission of social behaviors and political preferences is purely cultural has been challenged repeatedly over the last 40 years by the combined evidence of large studies of adult twins and their relatives, adoption studies, and twins reared apart. Variance components and path modeling analyses using data from extended families quantified the overall genetic influence on political attitudes, but few studies have attempt…
Not by Twins Alone: Using the Extended Family Design to Investigate Genetic Influence on Political Beliefs
Variance components estimates of political and social attitudes suggest a substantial level of genetic influence, but the results have been challenged because they rely on data from twins only. In this analysis, we include responses from parents and nontwin full siblings of twins, account for measurement error by using a panel design, and estimate genetic and environmental variance by maximum‐likelihood structural equation modeling. By doing so, …
Relative Finger Lengths, Sex Differences, and Psychological Traits
Genetic and Environmental Transmission of Political Attitudes Over a Life Time
Recently political scientists have looked anew at the source of political preferences and find support for the heuristic that political attitudes and behaviors are influenced by endogenous factors. The present research attempts to characterize how the transmission of political orientations develops over the life course. Using longitudinal data collected on twins throughout childhood and adolescence combined with cross-sectional data from adult tw…
Do Genes Contribute to the “Gender Gap
The nature and mechanisms underlying the differences in political preferences between men and women continues to be debated with little consideration for the biology of sex. Genetic influences on social and political attitudes have been reported for each sex independently, yet neither the magnitude nor sources of genetic influences have been explored for significant differences between males and females. In a large sample of adult twins, responde…
Genetic and Environmental Transmission of Political Attitudes Over a Life Time
Recently political scientists have looked anew at the source of political preferences and find support for the heuristic that political attitudes and behaviors are influenced by endogenous factors. The present research attempts to characterize how the transmission of political orientations develops over the life course. Using longitudinal data collected on twins throughout childhood and adolescence combined with cross-sectional data from adult tw…
Not by Twins Alone: Using the Extended Family Design to Investigate Genetic Influence on Political Beliefs
Variance components estimates of political and social attitudes suggest a substantial level of genetic influence, but the results have been challenged because they rely on data from twins only. In this analysis, we include responses from parents and nontwin full siblings of twins, account for measurement error by using a panel design, and estimate genetic and environmental variance by maximum‐likelihood structural equation modeling. By doing so, …
Political Science, Biometric Theory, and Twin Studies: A Methodological Introduction
As political scientists begin to incorporate biological influences as explanatory factors in political behavior, the need to present a methodological road map for utilizing biometric genetic theory and twin data is apparent. The classical twin design (CTD) remains the most popular design for initial examinations of the source of variance among social and political behaviors, and a vast majority of advanced variance components models as well as so…
A Genome-Wide Analysis of Liberal and Conservative Political Attitudes
The assumption that the transmission of social behaviors and political preferences is purely cultural has been challenged repeatedly over the last 40 years by the combined evidence of large studies of adult twins and their relatives, adoption studies, and twins reared apart. Variance components and path modeling analyses using data from extended families quantified the overall genetic influence on political attitudes, but few studies have attempt…
Do Genes Contribute to the “Gender Gap
The nature and mechanisms underlying the differences in political preferences between men and women continues to be debated with little consideration for the biology of sex. Genetic influences on social and political attitudes have been reported for each sex independently, yet neither the magnitude nor sources of genetic influences have been explored for significant differences between males and females. In a large sample of adult twins, responde…
Genetic evidence of assortative mating in humans
Hidden heritability due to heterogeneity across seven populations
Meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies, which dominate genetic discovery, are based on data from diverse historical time periods and populations. Genetic scores derived from genome-wide association studies explain only a fraction of the heritability estimates obtained from whole-genome studies on single populations, known as the ‘hidden heritability’ puzzle. Using seven sampling populations (n = 35,062), we test whether hidden heritabil…
Identification of 371 genetic variants for age at first sex and birth linked to externalising behaviour
Population Differences in Finger-Length Ratios: Ethnicity or Latitude
Genome-wide analysis identifies genetic effects on reproductive success and ongoing natural selection at the Fads locus
Relative Finger Lengths, Sex Differences, and Psychological Traits
Height and 2D: 4D Within and Between Ethnic Groups: Reply to Hurd and van Anders (2007)
Symptom-level modelling unravels the shared genetic architecture of anxiety and depression
Genome-wide association study identifies 48 common genetic variants associated with handedness
Handedness has been extensively studied because of its relationship with language and the over-representation of left-handers in some neurodevelopmental disorders. Using data from the UK Biobank, 23andMe and the International Handedness Consortium, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of handedness (N = 1,766,671). We found 41 loci associated (P < 5 × 10−8) with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. Tissue-enrichmen…
Population Differences in Finger-Length Ratios: Ethnicity or Latitude
The Genetics of Voting: An Australian Twin Study
Ridgecounter: A program for obtaining semi-automated finger ridge counts
Finger ridge count is a valuable quantitative phenotype used in a wide range of biological and anthropological research. However, the scoring of the phenotype is both labour intensive and error prone. This paper describe a freely available software program, RIDGECOUNTER, that can be used to obtain ridge counts from digitized prints (either collected using a digital fingerprint scanner or scanned from an inked print). The program yields semi-autom…
Height and 2D: 4D Within and Between Ethnic Groups: Reply to Hurd and van Anders (2007)
A Genome‐Wide Scan for Eysenckian Personality Dimensions in Adolescent Twin Sibships: Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Lie
We report the first genome‐wide scan of adolescent personality. We conducted a genome‐wide scan to detect linkage for measures of adolescent Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Lie from the Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Data are based on 1,280 genotyped Australian adolescent twins and their siblings. The highest linkage peaks were found on chromosomes 16 and 19 for Neuroticism, on chromosomes 1, 7, 10, 13 m, and 18 for Psycho…
Relative Finger Lengths, Sex Differences, and Psychological Traits
Genetic and Environmental Transmission of Political Attitudes Over a Life Time
Recently political scientists have looked anew at the source of political preferences and find support for the heuristic that political attitudes and behaviors are influenced by endogenous factors. The present research attempts to characterize how the transmission of political orientations develops over the life course. Using longitudinal data collected on twins throughout childhood and adolescence combined with cross-sectional data from adult tw…
Do Genes Contribute to the “Gender Gap
The nature and mechanisms underlying the differences in political preferences between men and women continues to be debated with little consideration for the biology of sex. Genetic influences on social and political attitudes have been reported for each sex independently, yet neither the magnitude nor sources of genetic influences have been explored for significant differences between males and females. In a large sample of adult twins, responde…
Political Science, Biometric Theory, and Twin Studies: A Methodological Introduction
As political scientists begin to incorporate biological influences as explanatory factors in political behavior, the need to present a methodological road map for utilizing biometric genetic theory and twin data is apparent. The classical twin design (CTD) remains the most popular design for initial examinations of the source of variance among social and political behaviors, and a vast majority of advanced variance components models as well as so…
Not by Twins Alone: Using the Extended Family Design to Investigate Genetic Influence on Political Beliefs
Variance components estimates of political and social attitudes suggest a substantial level of genetic influence, but the results have been challenged because they rely on data from twins only. In this analysis, we include responses from parents and nontwin full siblings of twins, account for measurement error by using a panel design, and estimate genetic and environmental variance by maximum‐likelihood structural equation modeling. By doing so, …
A Genome-Wide Analysis of Liberal and Conservative Political Attitudes
The assumption that the transmission of social behaviors and political preferences is purely cultural has been challenged repeatedly over the last 40 years by the combined evidence of large studies of adult twins and their relatives, adoption studies, and twins reared apart. Variance components and path modeling analyses using data from extended families quantified the overall genetic influence on political attitudes, but few studies have attempt…
Genetic Influences on Life Span and Its Relationship to Personality: A 16-Year Follow-Up Study of a Sample of Aging Twins
OBJECTIVE: The relationship between personality and life span is not well understood, and no study to date has examined genetic influences underlying this relationship. The present study aimed to explore the phenotypic and genetic relationship between personality and life span, as well as genetic influences on all-cause mortality. METHODS: Prospective community-based study including 3752 twin individuals older than 50 years. Neuroticism, psychoti…
GWAS of 126,559 Individuals Identifies Genetic Variants Associated with Educational Attainment
Genetic College Many genomic elements in humans are associated with behavior, including educational attainment. In a genome-wide association study including more than 100,000 samples, Rietveld et al. (p. 1467 , published online 30 May; see the Perspective by Flint and Munafò ) looked for genes related to educational attainment in Caucasians. Small genetic effects at three loci appeared to impact educational attainment.
Associations Between Depression and Anxiety Symptoms and Retinal Vessel Caliber in Adolescents and Young Adults
OBJECTIVE: Previous longitudinal studies suggest that depression and anxiety are associated with risk for cardiovascular disease. The aim of the present study was to test whether an association between depression and anxiety symptoms and retinal vessel caliber, an indicator of subclinical cardiovascular risk, is apparent as early as adolescence and young adulthood. METHODS: Participants were 865 adolescents and young adults who participated in th…
Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology
Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses
Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment
Hidden heritability due to heterogeneity across seven populations
Meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies, which dominate genetic discovery, are based on data from diverse historical time periods and populations. Genetic scores derived from genome-wide association studies explain only a fraction of the heritability estimates obtained from whole-genome studies on single populations, known as the ‘hidden heritability’ puzzle. Using seven sampling populations (n = 35,062), we test whether hidden heritabil…
Genetic evidence of assortative mating in humans
Genome-wide association analyses identify 44 risk variants and refine the genetic architecture of major depression
Discovery of the first genome-wide significant risk loci for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly heritable childhood behavioral disorder affecting 5% of children and 2.5% of adults. Common genetic variants contribute substantially to ADHD susceptibility, but no variants have been robustly associated with ADHD. We report a genome-wide association meta-analysis of 20,183 individuals diagnosed with ADHD and 35,191 controls that identifies variants surpassing genome-wide significance in…
Genome-wide association study identifies 48 common genetic variants associated with handedness
Handedness has been extensively studied because of its relationship with language and the over-representation of left-handers in some neurodevelopmental disorders. Using data from the UK Biobank, 23andMe and the International Handedness Consortium, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of handedness (N = 1,766,671). We found 41 loci associated (P < 5 × 10−8) with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. Tissue-enrichmen…
Analysis of structural brain asymmetries in attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder in 39 datasets
OBJECTIVE: Some studies have suggested alterations of structural brain asymmetry in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but findings have been contradictory and based on small samples. Here, we performed the largest ever analysis of brain left-right asymmetry in ADHD, using 39 datasets of the ENIGMA consortium. METHODS: We analyzed asymmetry of subcortical and cerebral cortical structures in up to 1,933 people with ADHD and 1,829 una…
Comorbid Chronic Pain and Depression: Shared Risk Factors and Differential Antidepressant Effectiveness
The bidirectional relationship between depression and chronic pain is well-recognized, but their clinical management remains challenging. Here we characterize the shared risk factors and outcomes for their comorbidity in the Australian Genetics of Depression cohort study ( N = 13,839). Participants completed online questionnaires about chronic pain, psychiatric symptoms, comorbidities, treatment response and general health. Logistic regression mo…
Identification of 371 genetic variants for age at first sex and birth linked to externalising behaviour
Biology (22 works) · Psychology (22 works) · Genetic Associations and Epidemiology (17 works) · Gene (15 works) · Genetics (14 works) · Genetics (14 works) · Social Psychology (10 works) · Cognitive Abilities and Testing (9 works) · Genome-wide association study (9 works) · Genotype (9 works)