Question

The presence of schizophrenia was measured in both monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins. The correlation between the MZ twins was .50 and the correlation between the DZ twins was .30. What is the heritability coefficient for schizophrenia?

Answer 1

0.40

Explanation:

Given the following :

Correlation between monozygotic twins (MZ) = 0.50

Correlation between dizygotic twins (DZ) = 0.30

Heritability Coefficient is obtained by multiplying by 2, the difference between the monozygotic correlation and dizygotic correlation.

Therefore, Heritability coefficient of schizophrenia :

2 × (monozygotic - dizygotic)

2 × (0.50 - 0.30)

2 × (0.20)

= 0.40