Table 1.
Heritability Studies Examining Genetic Influences on Coping.
| Study | Coping Domain/Style | Measure | Study Population | Key Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Busjahn, Faulhaber, Freier, and Luft, 1999 | Family oriented, social, enhancement/social, coping social | SVF | 212 German M/F twin pairs | 19 coping scales: additive genetic factors (h2 = .10–.43), nonadditive genetic factors (h2 = .12– .68). |
| Jang, Thordarson, Stein, Cohan, and Taylor, 2007 | Emotion oriented, task oriented, social diversion, denial | CISS | 171 British Columbian twin pairs | Task oriented, emotion oriented, and social diversion were moderately heritable (h2 = .17–.20); distraction influenced solely by environment. |
| Kato and Pedersen, 2005 | Problem solving, turning to others, avoidance, neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience | BMCS | 446 Swedish M/F twin pairs | Problem solving (h2 = .30–.38), turning to others (h2 = .21–.37), avoidance (h2 = .15–.34). |
| Kendler, Kessler, Heath, Neal, and Eaves, 1991 | Turning to others, problem solving, denial | WOCC | 827 French F twin pairs | Turning to others (h2 = .30), problem solving (h2 = .31), and denial (h2 = .19). |
| Kozak, Strelau, and Miles, 2005 | Task oriented, emotion oriented, social diversion, distraction | CISS | 612 Polish M/F twin pairs | Emotion oriented (h2 = .35), task oriented (h2 = .34), distraction (h2 = .33), social diversion (h2 = .39). |
| Mackie, Conrod, Rijsdijk, and Eley, 2011 | Family oriented, social, enhancement/social, coping/social | SUQ | 711 White M/F twin pairs from the UK | Additive effect: enhancement/social motives class (h2 = .28 and .20, respectively), social motives class (h2 = .66). Nonadditive effects (h2 = .76) for coping/social motives class. |
| Mellins, Gatz, & Baker, 1996 | Distraction, use of parents/peers, problem solve, self-soothe | CPCQ | 74 White, Hispanic, Black, Asian, and mixed M/F twin pairs | Distraction (h2 = .99), use of parents (h2 = .53), use of peers (h2 = .18), problem solve (h2 = .00), problem focused (h2 = .57), emotion focused (h2 = .00). |
| Wang, Trivedi, Treiber, and Snieder, 2005 | John Henryism, anger expression, perceived stressful life events | AES, JHACS | 519 White/Black American M/F twin pairs | Heritability estimates: anger-in (h2 = .18), anger-out (h2 = .10), anger control (h2 = .34), JH (h2 = .34) |
| Whitfield et al., 2006 | John Henryism | JHACS | 180 Black American M/F twin pairs | JH heritability estimates: JH (h2 = .35). |
Note. AES = Anger Expression Scale; BMCS = Billings & Moos Coping Scale; CISS = Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations; CPCQ = Children’s Perceived Coping Questionnaire; F = female; JH = John Henryism; JHACS = John Henry Active Coping Scale; M = male; SUQ = Substance Use Questionnaire; SVF = Stressverarbeitungsfragebogen; UK = United Kingdom; WOCC = Ways of Coping Checklist.