6.3 Ethics and Funding Statements
Please use the appropriate funding statements listed below for the data that was used in your publication to correctly acknowledge the usage of the TwinLife data. In case an ethics statement for the data use is needed for your publication, please use the respective ethics statements provided below.
6.3.1 Funding Statements
Survey data (Scientific Use File)
The TwinLife study was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (Grant number 220286500, https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/220286500). Funding was awarded to Martin Diewald, Christian Kandler, Frank M. Spinath, Bastian Mönkediek, and Rainer Riemann. The funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript.
TwinSNPs
The molecular genetic extension project of TwinLife was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG; Grant number 428902522, https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/428902522). Funding was awarded to Martin Diewald, Peter Krawitz, Markus M. Nöthen, Rainer Riemann, and Frank M. Spinath. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript.
TECS
The epigenetic change satellite project of TwinLife was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG; Grant number 458609264, https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/458609264). Funding was awarded to Elisabeth Binder, Martin Diewald, Andreas J. Forstner, Christian Kandler, Markus M. Nöthen, and Frank M. Spinath. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, the decision to publish, or the preparation of the manuscript.
6.3.2 Data Availability
The TwinLife data are archived in the GESIS data catalog: https://search.gesis.org/research_data/ZA6701. Data is released for academic research and teaching after the data depositor’s written authorization.
6.3.3 Ethics Statements
Survey data
The TwinLife study was reviewed and approved by the German Psychological Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie; protocol number: RR 11.2009).
[Use this paragraph when using COVID-19 supplementary data]
The COVID-19 supplementary questionnaires were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Bielefeld (Application No. 2020-106).
All participants were informed in writing about the aims of the TwinLife study, the incentives, and that their participation was voluntary and could be withdrawn at any time. In addition, in all face-to-face surveys, participants received a two-page leaflet summarizing the procedures concerning data protection and privacy and their rights to demand the deletion of all data collected in line with German data integrity laws. Written material was sent to participants before all interviews. At the beginning of each interview, informed verbal consent was obtained from participants (and the participants' legal guardians when the participants were underage) and documented. Following the national legislation and the institutional requirements, written informed consent was not required to participate in this study. Nevertheless, for all supplementary online surveys, written informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Saliva samples
The Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty of the University of Bonn (No. 113/18) reviewed and approved the protocols for the genetic sampling via saliva samples.
Prior to the genetic sampling, the participants received extensive written information on, e.g., the sampling procedures, the scope of the study, their right to refuse participation, and their right to withdraw their consent at any given time. For sampling genetic data, written informed consent was obtained from all participants and the participant’s legal guardian or next of kin (for minors).