Popular Structural Equation Modeling Programs for Behavior Genetics

Abstract

Behavior genetic modeling is a prominent application of multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM). It decomposes phenotypic variance into genetic and environmental sources by leveraging the covariation within and between kin pairs. Although any SEM program with multi-group capabilities can be employed, the software program, Mx, has dominated behavior genetics research. Indeed, even though Mx has not been maintained since 2011, it remains the most popular SEM program in Behavior Genetics articles published in 2016 and 2017. Given the persistence of Mx, the aim of this article is to understand Mx’s performance relative to other popular behavior genetic programs. Through this process, programs employed in behavior genetics research are identified, and their relevant technical features and accessibility are compared. Finally, the relative strengths and limitations of the programs are discussed, and recommendations are provided for behavior genetics researchers.

Keywords:

• behavior genetics
• OpenMx
• Mx
• Mplus

Acknowledgments

I thank Kevin Grimm, Bob Krueger, and Kris Preacher for their insights. Any opinions expressed herein are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding sources.

Notes

¹ Almasy and Warren (2005) reviewed Mx for quantitative trait analysis.

Additional information

Funding

This material is based upon work that has been supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. DGE-1445197, and institutional support from Vanderbilt University.