Risk of psychiatric disorders among the surviving twins after a co-twin loss

Abstract

Losing a co-twin by death is a severely stressful event yet with unknown impact on the surviving twin’s risk of psychiatric disorders. We identified all Swedish-born twins who lost a cotwin by death between 1973 and 2013 (n = 4,528), their 4939 non-twin full siblings, together with 22,640 age-and sex-matched non-bereaved twins. Compared to the non-bereaved twins, exposed twins were at increased risk of receiving a first diagnosis of psychiatric disorders (hazard ratio = 1.65, 95% confidence interval1.48–1.83), particularly during the first month after loss. Similarly, compared to non-twin full siblings, the relative risks were significantly increased after loss of monozygotic co-twin (2.45-fold), and loss of a dizygotic co-twin (1.29-fold), with higher HR observed with greater age gaps between twins and non-twin siblings. As dizygotic twins share equal genetic relatedness to the deceased twin as their full siblings, this pattern suggests that beyond the contribution of genetic factors, shared early life experiences and attachment contribute to the risk of psychiatric disorders among surviving twins after co-twin loss.