Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 4, 2026

Candidate Gene Testing in Clinical Cohort Studies with Multiplexed Genotyping and Mass Spectrometry
Published on: June 21, 2018
Effects of undergoing multiplex genetic susceptibility testing on parent attitudes towards testing their children
Anne C Madeo1, Kenneth P Tercyak, Beth A Tarini
1Social and Behavioral Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA, acmadeo@gmail.com.
Background:
Parents may pursue common disease risk information about themselves via multiplex genetic susceptibility testing (MGST) for their children.
Purpose:
To prospectively assess whether parents who received MGST disclosed their test results to their child, intended to change the child's health habits, or have the child tested.
Methods:
Eighty parents who opted for free MGST completed an online survey about a child in their household before undergoing MGST and a follow-up telephone survey 3 months after receiving results.
Results:
Few parents (21 %) disclosed results to the child. Undergoing MGST was unrelated to intentions to change the child's health habits but did increase parental willingness to test the child. Greater willingness to test a child was associated with positive attitudes toward pediatric genetic testing and intentions to change the child's health habits.
Conclusion:
The experience of receiving MGST had little impact on parents' perceptions or behaviors related to their minor child.
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