Elder, Sonya J.Neale, Michael C.Fuss, Paul J.Lichtenstein, Alice H.Greenberg, Andrew S.McCrory, Megan A.Bouchard, Thomas J.Saltzman, EdwardRoberts, Susan B.2018-05-012018-05-012012-04-06Sonya J Elder, Michael C Neale, Paul J Fuss, Alice H Lichtenstein, Andrew S Greenberg, Megan A McCrory, Thomas J Bouchard, Edward Saltzman, Susan B Roberts. 2012. "Genetic and Environmental Influences on Eating Behavior - A Study of Twin Pairs Reared Apart or Reared Together.." Open Nutr J, Volume 6, pp. 59 - 70.1874-2882https://hdl.handle.net/2144/28807This study examined the relative influence of genetic versus environmental factors on specific aspects of eating behavior. Adult monozygotic twins (22 pairs and 3 singleton reared apart, 38 pairs and 9 singleton reared together, age 18-76 years, BMI 17-43 kg/m2) completed the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire. Genetic and environmental variance components were determined for the three eating behavior constructs and their subscales using model-fitting univariate and multivariate analyses. Unique environmental factors had a substantial influence on all eating behavior variables (explaining 45-71% of variance), and most strongly influenced external locus for hunger and strategic dieting behavior of restraint (explaining 71% and 69% of variance, respectively). Genetic factors had a statistically significant influence on only 4 variables: restraint, emotional susceptibility to disinhibition, situational susceptibility to disinhibition, and internal locus for hunger (heritabilities were 52%, 55%, 38% and 50%, respectively). Common environmental factors did not statistically significantly influence any variable assessed in this study. In addition, multivariate analyses showed that disinhibition and hunger share a common influence, while restraint appears to be a distinct construct. These findings suggest that the majority of variation in eating behavior variables is associated with unique environmental factors, and highlights the importance of the environment in facilitating specific eating behaviors that may promote excess weight gain.59 - 70Copyright © Elder et al. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/DisinhibitionEnvironmentHeritabilityHungerObesityRestraintArticle10.2174/1874288201206010059