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CATSS9 - The Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (9 years, telephone interview)

Overview The Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS) is an ongoing longitudinal twin study that targets all twins born in Sweden since July 1, 1992 and living in Sweden at the study inquiries. Between 2004 and 2019, twin parents were interviewed about the children's somatic and psychological health and social environment in connection with their 9th birthday (CATSS9). As of 2020, the telephone interview has been replaced with a web survey (CATSS9W). At age 15 (CATSS15) and age 18 (CATSS18), twins and parents complete a web-based questionnaire that, in addition to assessments of somatic and mental health, includes measures of personality development and psychosocial adjustment. At the age of 24 (CATSS24), twins complete a web survey that focuses primarily on mental health. Fundraising for CATSS9 started in 2004 and ended in 2019. Parents of all of Sweden's 9-year-old twins were invited to participate in a telephone interview regarding the twins' health and behavior. The interview captured various health problems such as asthma, allergies and diabetes as well as behaviors such as physical activity and social interaction. The number of participating twins is 34400, with a response rate of 69%. In connection with the CATSS9 interview, the parents also received a request to provide DNA via saliva samples from the twins. The saliva sample is used for zygosity determination and genotyping. The number of genotyped twins participating in CATSS9 is 21 500 (December 2024). Question areas: Administrative Information Allergy, Asthma, Eczema A-TAC - Autism - Tics, AD/HD and other Comorbidities inventory CPTI - Child Problematic Traits Inventory Demographic Information Drugs LSC-R Life Stressor Checklist- Revised (trauma) Physical Activity PTSD - DSM-IV Criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (trauma) SCARED - Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders School Environment & Support in School SCM - Stattin Child Monitoring Sicklist, somatic SMFQ - Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (depression) Spare Time Activities Weight & Height
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https://ki.se/en/research/research-infrastructure-and-environments/core-facilities-for-research/swedish-twin-registry-core-facility
Download documentation (3 files / 1.65 MiB)

Documentation files

  • Changes in the telephone interview CATSS9 v1 and v2.xlsx
    27.64 KiB
  • Documentation of A-TAC scales CATSS9.pdf
    378.25 KiB
  • Telephone survey CATSS9.pdf
    1.25 MiB

Citation and access

Data access level:

Creator/Principal investigator(s):

Research principal:

Data contains personal data:

Yes

Type of personal data:

Pseudonymised, health data, social security number, lifestyle, exposures, names, addresses, survey responses

Code key exists:

Yes

Sensitive personal data:

Yes

Citation:

License:

Language:

Method and outcome

Unit of analysis:

Population:

9-year-old twins born in Sweden between July 1, 1992, and December 31, 2010

Time method:

Study design:

  • Observational study
  • Cohort study

Description of study design:

Data collection took place via telephone interview. The study is consent-based.

Sampling procedure:

Description of sampling:

All 9-year-old twins, both same-sex and opposite sex, born in Sweden between July 1, 1992, and December 31, 2010, as recorded in the Swedish Medical Birth Register and residing in Sweden at the time of invitation, were eligible for inclusion. Only complete twin pairs where invited to participate. Twins with protected identities, who have emigrated, or who were deceased were excluded.

Time period(s) investigated:

Variables:

1555

Number of individuals/objects:

34454

Response rate/participation rate:

69%

Description of the response rate/participation rate:

The total number of participating twins is 34,454 of 50,000, resulting in a response rate of 69%.

Data format/data structure:

Samples/material Collected from scientific collection/biobank

Name:

KI biobank

Type(s) of sample:

DNA from saliva

Data collection Telephone interview

Mode of collection:

Telephone interview

Description of the mode of collection:

Telephone interview

Time period(s) for data collection:

2004-10-01 - 2020-06-30

Data collector:

Source of the data:

  • Registers/Records/Accounts: Medical/Clinical
  • Registers/Records/Accounts

Instrument

Name:

SMFQ

Type:

Structured questionnaire

Description of the instrument:

The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) is based on the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) which was developed by Adrian Angold and Elizabeth J. Costello in 1987. The questionnaire consists of a series of descriptive phrases regarding how the subject has been feeling or acting recently. Codings reflect whether the phrase was descriptive of the subject most of the time, sometimes or not at all in the past two weeks. DOI: 10.1097/00004583-198811000-00011 Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., & Pickles, A. (1995). Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 5(4), 237–249.

Name:

SCARED

Type:

Structured questionnaire

Description of the instrument:

The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) is a widely used instrument designed to screen for anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. DOI: 10.1097/00004583-200503000-00013 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-018-0854-0

Name:

A-TAC

Type:

Structured questionnaire

Description of the instrument:

Autism-Tics, ADHD and other Comorbidities (A-TAC) is a telephone interview developed for use in CATSS (Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden). It is a comprehensive screening tool designed to identify a range of neuropsychiatric variations in children, particularly for the assessment of autism, ADHD, DCD, and learning difficulties. DOI: 10.1186/s12888-017-1563-0

Name:

SCM

Description of the instrument:

Stattin Child Monitoring (SCM): Questions covering three potential sources of information - child disclosure (CD), parental solicitation, and parental control DOI: 10.1037//0012-1649.36.3.366 DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00210

Name:

CPTI

Type:

Structured questionnaire

Description of the instrument:

The Child Problematic Traits Inventory (CPTI) is a 28 item questionnaire aimed to assess psychopathic personality traits in children age 3 to 12 years. It is a research instrument with the purpose to facilitate research on the role of psychopathic traits in development. DOI: 10.1007/s10862-013-9385-y DOI: 10.1177/1073191119832654

Name:

LSC-R

Description of the instrument:

The Life Stressor Checklist-Revised (LSC-R) is a self-report measure that assesses traumatic or stressful life events. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/assessment/documents/LSC-R.pdf DOI: 10.1037/t04534-000

Name:

PTSD

Type:

Structured questionnaire

Description of the instrument:

DSM-IV Diagnostic criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) include a history of exposure to a traumatic event and symptoms from each of three symptom clusters: intrusive recollections, avoidant/numbing symptoms, and hyper-arousal symptoms. A fifth criterion concerned duration of symptoms; and, a sixth criterion stipulated that PTSD symptoms must cause significant distress or functional impairment. DOI: 10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596

Geographic coverage

Geographic location:

Geographic description:

Nationwide

Lowest geographic unit:

Parish

Highest geographic unit:

Country

Administrative information

Responsible department/unit:

Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics [C8]

Ethics Review 1:

Stockholm - 02-289

Ethics Review 2:

Stockholm - 2010/597-31/1

Ethics Review 3:

Stockholm - 2016/2135-31

Funding

Funding agency:

Funding information:

Government grants

Funding agency:

Award number:

2017-00641_VR

Funding information:

Grant numbers: 2017-00641

Topic and keywords

Standard för svensk indelning av forskningsämnen 2025:

Keywords:

Relations

Homepage:

Related resource:

The Swedish Twin RegistryOpens in a new tab

Publications

Citation:

Anckarsäter H, Lundström S, Kollberg L, Kerekes N, Palm C, Carlström E, Långström N, Magnusson PK, Halldner L, Bölte S, Gillberg C, Gumpert C, Råstam M, Lichtenstein P. The Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS). Twin Res Hum Genet. 2011 Dec;14(6):495-508.

Contact

Metadata

Version 1
doris
ki
Published:|Updated: