Schizophrenia is reported to have a heritability estimate as high as 80%. What does this mean?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The heritability estimate for schizophrenia is about 80%, which refers to the cause of the variation of the phenotype within a population and not causes within a given family. Even though the heritability estimate is 80%, that does not mean that if a mother is schizophrenic that each of her children has an 80% risk of being schizophrenic. It does mean that examination of the variations in phenotype in specific populations demonstrates that about 80% can be attributed to genetics and about 20% can be attributed to environment.

Schizophrenia Is Reported to Have a Heritability Estimate as High