Frequency of church attendance in Australia and the United States: models of family resemblance

Abstract

AbstractData on frequency of church attendance have been obtained from separate cohorts of twins and their families from the USA and Australia (29 063 and 20 714 individuals from 5670 and 5615 families, respectively). The United States sample displayed considerably higher frequency of attendance at church services. Sources of family resemblance for this trait also differed between the Australian and US data, but both indicated significant additive genetic and shared environment effects on church attendance, with minor contributions from twin environment, assortative mating and parent–offspring environmental transmission. Principal differences between the populations were in greater maternal environmental effects in the US sample, as opposed to paternal effects in the Australian sample, and smaller shared environment effects observed for both women and men in the US cohort.