Bielefeld Longitudinal Study of Adult Twins (BiLSAT)
BiLSAT is a study investigating the genetic and environmental influences on the structure and development of adult temperament and personality. Participants were monozygotic and dizygotic twins, aged between 14 and 80, who were reared together. There were over 1,100 twin pairs whose data was collected at baseline and almost 4,800 peers provided additional ratings on each twin. The twin pairs were recruited through various media announcements, such as newspapers, TV, and radio, as well as twin clubs in Germany, primarily from the region around Bielefeld. Data were collected in five waves of assessment between 1993 and 2009. A subset of BiLSAT participants also completed the German Observational Study of Adult Twins (GOSAT). GOSAT was nested within BiLSAT and focused on exploring genetic and environmental influences on adult personality and cognitive abilities within the normal range. It involved a one-off assessment and the collection of genetic data from 168 monozygotic and 132 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs.
Study design
Cohort - twin
Number of participants at first data collection
2,404 (participants)
Age at first data collection
Varied (participants)
Participant year of birth
Varied (participants)
Participant sex
All
Representative sample at baseline?
No
Sample features
Country
Year of first data collection
1993
Primary Institutions
Bielefeld University (Universität Bielefeld)
Profile paper DOI
Funders
German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG)
Max Planck Society
Ongoing?
No
Data types collected
- Audio or visual recordings (e.g. of child behaviour, facial expressions)
- Computer, paper or task testing (e.g. cognitive testing, theory of mind doll task, attention computer tasks)
- Physical or biological assessment (e.g. blood, saliva, gait, grip strength, anthropometry)
- Self-report questionnaire – paper or computer assisted
- None
- None
- None
Engagement
Keywords
Consortia and dataset groups
