Eivind Ystrom
Biographic Data
| ID | 214123 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Eivind Ystrom |
| GIVEN NAMES | Eivind |
| FAMILY NAME | Ystrom |
| SIGNATURE | YSTROM E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Norwegian Institute of Public Health |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4390-6171 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 25 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Determinants of Parental Emotion Socialization Behaviors: Insights From a Large‐Scale Population‐Based Family Study
Parental emotion socialization behaviors (ESBs) are essential for child development and are typically understood as influenced by factors related to three domains: the parent, the child, and the family context. However, it remains unclear how parents' childhood experiences with ESBs should be represented within these conceptual frameworks. Addressing the complexity of ESBs, the present study examined predictors across three theoretically derived …
Indirect genetic effects of siblings
BACKGROUND: Within-family designs are increasingly used to decompose genotype-trait associations into direct and indirect genetic effects. Many such designs, including trio designs or within-sibship designs, assume an absence of sibling indirect genetic effects. METHODS: We expand two well-known molecular genetic within-family designs, one variance component (genome-based restricted maximum likelihood) and one trait-based (structural equation mod…
Multivariate maternal effects across the internalizing–externalizing spectrum in childhood: Results from the Norwegian mother, father, and child cohort study
BACKGROUND: From a functionalist perspective, parenting behaviors have adaptive functions and are partly expressions of genetic variation. Maternal genes that have effects on children are often referred to as indirect maternal genetic effects. Indirect genetic effects provide a means for measuring the role of parenting without the need for specifying the relevant parental behaviors. We studied indirect maternal genetic effects to address both the…
A Norwegian curriculum reform: Effects for 10th graders’ academic performance
The nature of the relation between mental well-being and ill-being
Socioeconomic status and risk for child psychopathology: Exploring gene–environment interaction in the presence of gene–environment correlation using extended families in the Norwegian Mother, Father …
BACKGROUND: Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with increased risk for emotional and behavioural problems among children. Evidence from twin studies has shown that family SES moderates genetic and environmental influences on child mental health. However, it is also known that SES is itself under genetic influence and previous gene-environment interaction (G×E) studies have not incorporated the potential genetic overlap between child men…
The genetic underpinnings of right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation explain political attitudes beyond Big Five personality
OBJECTIVE: Political attitudes are predicted by the key ideological variables of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO), as well as some of the Big Five personality traits. Past research indicates that personality and ideological traits are correlated for genetic reasons. A question that has yet to be tested concerns whether the genetic variation underlying the ideological traits of RWA and SDO has distinct contr…
Childhood personality and academic performance: A sibling fixed‐effects study
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the associations between personality traits at age 8 and academic performance between ages 10 and 14, controlling for family confounds. BACKGROUND: Many studies have shown links between children's personality traits and their school performance. However, we lack evidence on whether these associations remain after genetic and environmental confounders are accounted for. METHOD: Sibling data from the Norwegian Mot…
Stability and change in maternal wellbeing and illbeing from pregnancy to three years postpartum
Understanding the mutual relationship between different aspects of wellbeing and illbeing allows for identifying potential targets for health promotion interventions. Time-invariant stability was partially explained by genetics. Maternal wellbeing and illbeing develop in an interdependent way from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum
Bridging temperament and the Big Five in children: A genetically informative study
Early temperament precedes children's emerging Big Five personality, but shared models of temperament and personality are scarce. We wanted to estimate the genetic factor structure underlying both temperament and the Big Five in children, employing a genetically informed study. Within the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, we selected 26,354 twins, siblings, and cousins. Mothers rated their children's temperament three times between the age…
More than nature and nurture, indirect genetic effects on children's academic achievement are consequences of dynastic social processes
Worldwide Well-Being: Simulated Twins Reveal Genetic and (Hidden) Environmental Influences
What are the major sources of worldwide variability in subjective well-being (SWB)? Twin and family studies of SWB have found substantial heritability and strong effects from unique environments but virtually no effects from shared environments. However, extant findings are not necessarily valid at the global level. Prior studies have examined within-countries variability but did not take into account mean differences across nations. In this arti…
How interactions between ADHD and schools affect educational achievement: A family‐based genetically sensitive study
BACKGROUND: Children with ADHD tend to achieve less than their peers in school. It is unknown whether schools moderate this association. Nonrandom selection of children into schools related to variations in their ADHD risk poses a methodological problem. METHODS: We linked data on ADHD symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity and parent-child ADHD polygenic scores (PGS) from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) to achievem…
On the importance of parenting in externalizing disorders: An evaluation of indirect genetic effects in families
BACKGROUND: Theoretical models of the development of childhood externalizing disorders emphasize the role of parents. Empirical studies have not been able to identify specific aspects of parental behaviors explaining a considerable proportion of the observed individual differences in externalizing problems. The problem is complicated by the contribution of genetic factors to externalizing problems, as parents provide both genes and environments t…
An anatomy of the intergenerational correlation of educational attainment – Learning from the educational attainments of Norwegian twins and their children
Research on the intergenerational correlation of educational attainment (ICE) has long attempted to identify the impact of family background, specifically parent’s education. However, previous research has largely ignored genetic inheritance. We address this shortcoming by adopting a Multiple-Children-of-Twin design and decompose the ICE into its environmental and genetic transmission mechanisms. This decomposition reveals to what extent the impa…
Genetic and environmental contributions to co-occurring ADHD and emotional problems in school-aged children
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience co-occurring emotional problems. ADHD with this comorbidity is associated with poorer outcomes than ADHD without comorbidity. Better understanding of the etiology of comorbidity could improve prevention of negative outcomes for children with ADHD. The sample consisted of 567 twin pairs, 3,632 sibling pairs, and 2,340 cousin pairs from the Norwegian Mother, Father and C…
Personality and its relation to the use of alcohol and cigarettes during pregnancy: A multinational study
This study explored the impact of women's personality on drinking and smoking habits before and during pregnancy, using a multinational perspective. Data on maternal personality traits, background information, and alcohol and cigarette smoking before and during pregnancy were collected from 9187 women from more than 18 countries. High conscientiousness and agreeableness resulted as protective factors against alcohol consumption during pregnancy; …
Mechanisms linking parental educational attainment with child ADHD, depression, and academic problems: A study of extended families in The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study
BACKGROUND: Low educational attainment in parents is associated with child psychopathology. It is not clear whether the associations are due to risk factors that family members share or due to effects of maternal or paternal education on the offspring. We investigate whether associations between maternal and paternal educational attainment and child symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and academic problems are…
Maternal Perinatal and Concurrent Anxiety and Mental Health Problems in Early Childhood: A Sibling-Comparison Study
Do associations between maternal anxiety symptoms and offspring mental health remain after comparing differentially exposed siblings? Participants were 17,724 offspring siblings and 11,553 mothers from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study. Mothers reported anxiety and depressive symptoms at 30 weeks’ gestation, and 0.5, 1.5, 3, and 5 years postpartum. Child internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed at ages 1.5, 3, and 5, and m…
Does prenatal stress amplify effects of postnatal maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms on child problem behavior
Emerging evidence suggests that prenatal stress does not solely undermine child functioning but increases developmental plasticity to both negative and positive postnatal experiences. Here we test this proposition using the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study while implementing an extreme-group (i.e., high vs. low prenatal stress) design (n = 27,889 children for internalizing and n = 27,892 for externalizing problems). To measure prenatal str…
Sleep problems in preschoolers and maternal depressive symptoms: An evaluation of mother- and child-driven effects
Child sleep problems are associated with maternal depressive symptoms. It is unclear to what extent the association is due to direct effects or common risk factors for mother and child. Direct effects could represent child-driven processes, where child sleep problems influence maternal depressive symptoms, or mother-driven processes, where maternal depressive symptoms influence child sleep problems. Common factors could be shared genetic and fami…
Does low alcohol use increase the risk of sickness absence? A discordant twin study
The increased level of sick leave observed with low level drinkers seems to be mainly explained by confounding from genetic factors. In all observational studies of the relationship between alcohol consumption and health, one should be aware that important genetic confounders are likely to influence the results
Mood, anxiety, and alcohol use disorders and later cause-specific sick leave in young adult employees
Mood and anxiety disorders constituted independent risk factors for all cause sick leave, whereas alcohol use disorders seemed to be of less importance in young adulthood. Disorders characterised by distress were most strongly associated with sick leave granted for mental disorders, whereas disorders characterised by fear primarily predicted sick leave granted for somatic conditions. A large part of all sick leave is related to specific phobia, d…
Socioeconomic status and sick leave granted for mental and somatic disorders: A prospective study of young adult twins
Low SES is associated with a higher level of sick leave granted for both mental and somatic disorders among young adults, but these associations are confounded by factors that are common to co-twins. Education and income are therefore not likely to strongly affect sick leave in young adulthood
Impact of mothers' negative affectivity, parental locus of control and child‐feeding practices on dietary patterns of 3‐year‐old children: The MoBa Cohort Study
The aims of the current study were to (1) identify dietary patterns in 3-year-old children; (2) investigate the extent to which negative affectivity, external parental locus of control and control-oriented child-feeding practices (pressure to eat and restriction) relate to these dietary patterns; and (3) to examine to what extent external parental locus of control and control-oriented child-feeding practices serve as mediators for these effects. …
Predictors and pathways from infancy to symptoms of anxiety and depression in early adolescence
Data from a prospective 11-year longitudinal survey were used to identify early predictors and pathways to symptoms of anxiety and depression at 12-13 years of age, and to examine whether there were unique predictors of anxious versus depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling was used to explore longitudinal relations between contextual (maternal distress, family adversities, and social support) and temperamental (shyness and emotionality…
More than nature and nurture, indirect genetic effects on children's academic achievement are consequences of dynastic social processes
An anatomy of the intergenerational correlation of educational attainment – Learning from the educational attainments of Norwegian twins and their children
Research on the intergenerational correlation of educational attainment (ICE) has long attempted to identify the impact of family background, specifically parent’s education. However, previous research has largely ignored genetic inheritance. We address this shortcoming by adopting a Multiple-Children-of-Twin design and decompose the ICE into its environmental and genetic transmission mechanisms. This decomposition reveals to what extent the impa…
Sleep problems in preschoolers and maternal depressive symptoms: An evaluation of mother- and child-driven effects
Child sleep problems are associated with maternal depressive symptoms. It is unclear to what extent the association is due to direct effects or common risk factors for mother and child. Direct effects could represent child-driven processes, where child sleep problems influence maternal depressive symptoms, or mother-driven processes, where maternal depressive symptoms influence child sleep problems. Common factors could be shared genetic and fami…
Breastfeeding practice in mothers with eating disorders
The purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of breastfeeding in women with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and eating disorders not otherwise specified - purging subtype, with mothers with no eating disorders during the first 6 months after birth. The study is based on the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study conducted at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Questionnaire-based information on eating di…
The impact of maternal negative affectivity on dietary patterns of 18‐month‐old children in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study
Early dietary habits are formative for dietary habits later in life. Maternal personality might be an important factor in unhealthy feeding of children. The current study aims to assess the degree to which the personality trait of negative affectivity in mothers predicts their child's diet at age 18 months. This study is a part of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study conducted at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. A total of 27 763 …
Predictors and pathways from infancy to symptoms of anxiety and depression in early adolescence
Data from a prospective 11-year longitudinal survey were used to identify early predictors and pathways to symptoms of anxiety and depression at 12-13 years of age, and to examine whether there were unique predictors of anxious versus depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling was used to explore longitudinal relations between contextual (maternal distress, family adversities, and social support) and temperamental (shyness and emotionality…
Impact of mothers' negative affectivity, parental locus of control and child‐feeding practices on dietary patterns of 3‐year‐old children: The MoBa Cohort Study
The aims of the current study were to (1) identify dietary patterns in 3-year-old children; (2) investigate the extent to which negative affectivity, external parental locus of control and control-oriented child-feeding practices (pressure to eat and restriction) relate to these dietary patterns; and (3) to examine to what extent external parental locus of control and control-oriented child-feeding practices serve as mediators for these effects. …
Dyadic personality effects on family functioning in parents of newly hospitalized children
This study prospectively examined dyadic influences of parental personality on levels and change of family functioning in parents of a newly hospitalized child. A total of 183 couples whose child sought treatment for Type 1 diabetes, cancer, or an unintentional injury were assessed at 1 and 6 months posthospitalization with tests measuring personality, and family functioning. Analyses used structural equation modeling based on the actor–partner i…
Socioeconomic status and sick leave granted for mental and somatic disorders: A prospective study of young adult twins
Low SES is associated with a higher level of sick leave granted for both mental and somatic disorders among young adults, but these associations are confounded by factors that are common to co-twins. Education and income are therefore not likely to strongly affect sick leave in young adulthood
Does low alcohol use increase the risk of sickness absence? A discordant twin study
The increased level of sick leave observed with low level drinkers seems to be mainly explained by confounding from genetic factors. In all observational studies of the relationship between alcohol consumption and health, one should be aware that important genetic confounders are likely to influence the results
Mood, anxiety, and alcohol use disorders and later cause-specific sick leave in young adult employees
Mood and anxiety disorders constituted independent risk factors for all cause sick leave, whereas alcohol use disorders seemed to be of less importance in young adulthood. Disorders characterised by distress were most strongly associated with sick leave granted for mental disorders, whereas disorders characterised by fear primarily predicted sick leave granted for somatic conditions. A large part of all sick leave is related to specific phobia, d…
Sleep problems in preschoolers and maternal depressive symptoms: An evaluation of mother- and child-driven effects
Child sleep problems are associated with maternal depressive symptoms. It is unclear to what extent the association is due to direct effects or common risk factors for mother and child. Direct effects could represent child-driven processes, where child sleep problems influence maternal depressive symptoms, or mother-driven processes, where maternal depressive symptoms influence child sleep problems. Common factors could be shared genetic and fami…
Mechanisms linking parental educational attainment with child ADHD, depression, and academic problems: A study of extended families in The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study
BACKGROUND: Low educational attainment in parents is associated with child psychopathology. It is not clear whether the associations are due to risk factors that family members share or due to effects of maternal or paternal education on the offspring. We investigate whether associations between maternal and paternal educational attainment and child symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and academic problems are…
Maternal Perinatal and Concurrent Anxiety and Mental Health Problems in Early Childhood: A Sibling-Comparison Study
Do associations between maternal anxiety symptoms and offspring mental health remain after comparing differentially exposed siblings? Participants were 17,724 offspring siblings and 11,553 mothers from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study. Mothers reported anxiety and depressive symptoms at 30 weeks’ gestation, and 0.5, 1.5, 3, and 5 years postpartum. Child internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed at ages 1.5, 3, and 5, and m…
Does prenatal stress amplify effects of postnatal maternal depressive and anxiety symptoms on child problem behavior
Emerging evidence suggests that prenatal stress does not solely undermine child functioning but increases developmental plasticity to both negative and positive postnatal experiences. Here we test this proposition using the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study while implementing an extreme-group (i.e., high vs. low prenatal stress) design (n = 27,889 children for internalizing and n = 27,892 for externalizing problems). To measure prenatal str…
Genetic and environmental contributions to co-occurring ADHD and emotional problems in school-aged children
Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience co-occurring emotional problems. ADHD with this comorbidity is associated with poorer outcomes than ADHD without comorbidity. Better understanding of the etiology of comorbidity could improve prevention of negative outcomes for children with ADHD. The sample consisted of 567 twin pairs, 3,632 sibling pairs, and 2,340 cousin pairs from the Norwegian Mother, Father and C…
Personality and its relation to the use of alcohol and cigarettes during pregnancy: A multinational study
This study explored the impact of women's personality on drinking and smoking habits before and during pregnancy, using a multinational perspective. Data on maternal personality traits, background information, and alcohol and cigarette smoking before and during pregnancy were collected from 9187 women from more than 18 countries. High conscientiousness and agreeableness resulted as protective factors against alcohol consumption during pregnancy; …
How interactions between ADHD and schools affect educational achievement: A family‐based genetically sensitive study
BACKGROUND: Children with ADHD tend to achieve less than their peers in school. It is unknown whether schools moderate this association. Nonrandom selection of children into schools related to variations in their ADHD risk poses a methodological problem. METHODS: We linked data on ADHD symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity and parent-child ADHD polygenic scores (PGS) from the Norwegian Mother, Father, and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) to achievem…
On the importance of parenting in externalizing disorders: An evaluation of indirect genetic effects in families
BACKGROUND: Theoretical models of the development of childhood externalizing disorders emphasize the role of parents. Empirical studies have not been able to identify specific aspects of parental behaviors explaining a considerable proportion of the observed individual differences in externalizing problems. The problem is complicated by the contribution of genetic factors to externalizing problems, as parents provide both genes and environments t…
An anatomy of the intergenerational correlation of educational attainment – Learning from the educational attainments of Norwegian twins and their children
Research on the intergenerational correlation of educational attainment (ICE) has long attempted to identify the impact of family background, specifically parent’s education. However, previous research has largely ignored genetic inheritance. We address this shortcoming by adopting a Multiple-Children-of-Twin design and decompose the ICE into its environmental and genetic transmission mechanisms. This decomposition reveals to what extent the impa…
Worldwide Well-Being: Simulated Twins Reveal Genetic and (Hidden) Environmental Influences
What are the major sources of worldwide variability in subjective well-being (SWB)? Twin and family studies of SWB have found substantial heritability and strong effects from unique environments but virtually no effects from shared environments. However, extant findings are not necessarily valid at the global level. Prior studies have examined within-countries variability but did not take into account mean differences across nations. In this arti…
Socioeconomic status and risk for child psychopathology: Exploring gene–environment interaction in the presence of gene–environment correlation using extended families in the Norwegian Mother, Father …
BACKGROUND: Low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with increased risk for emotional and behavioural problems among children. Evidence from twin studies has shown that family SES moderates genetic and environmental influences on child mental health. However, it is also known that SES is itself under genetic influence and previous gene-environment interaction (G×E) studies have not incorporated the potential genetic overlap between child men…
The genetic underpinnings of right‐wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation explain political attitudes beyond Big Five personality
OBJECTIVE: Political attitudes are predicted by the key ideological variables of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO), as well as some of the Big Five personality traits. Past research indicates that personality and ideological traits are correlated for genetic reasons. A question that has yet to be tested concerns whether the genetic variation underlying the ideological traits of RWA and SDO has distinct contr…
Childhood personality and academic performance: A sibling fixed‐effects study
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the associations between personality traits at age 8 and academic performance between ages 10 and 14, controlling for family confounds. BACKGROUND: Many studies have shown links between children's personality traits and their school performance. However, we lack evidence on whether these associations remain after genetic and environmental confounders are accounted for. METHOD: Sibling data from the Norwegian Mot…
Stability and change in maternal wellbeing and illbeing from pregnancy to three years postpartum
Understanding the mutual relationship between different aspects of wellbeing and illbeing allows for identifying potential targets for health promotion interventions. Time-invariant stability was partially explained by genetics. Maternal wellbeing and illbeing develop in an interdependent way from pregnancy to 36 months postpartum
Bridging temperament and the Big Five in children: A genetically informative study
Early temperament precedes children's emerging Big Five personality, but shared models of temperament and personality are scarce. We wanted to estimate the genetic factor structure underlying both temperament and the Big Five in children, employing a genetically informed study. Within the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, we selected 26,354 twins, siblings, and cousins. Mothers rated their children's temperament three times between the age…
More than nature and nurture, indirect genetic effects on children's academic achievement are consequences of dynastic social processes
The nature of the relation between mental well-being and ill-being
Psychology (20 works) · Developmental psychology (16 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (14 works) · Norwegian (13 works) · Clinical Psychology (12 works) · Psychiatry (12 works) · Medicine (11 works) · Social Psychology (9 works) · Clinical Psychology (8 works) · Personality (8 works)