Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe Boston University Twin Project (BUTP) uses a multimethod, longitudinal approach to study the role of genetic and environmental factors on the development of child temperament and related behaviors in early childhood. There are two phases in this project. The first, described in the previous Twin Research and Human Genetics special issue on twin registries, focused on activity level and comprised over 300 twin pairs assessed in the home and laboratory at ages 2 and 3. In this article, we describe subject recruitment, sample characteristics, and study procedures and measures of the second phase of the BUTP. This recent study focuses more broadly on the development of multiple temperament dimensions and explores associations between temperament trajectories, parenting and child adjustment in a new cohort of approximately 300 twin pairs assessed at 3, 4 and 5 years of age.

AbstractPrevious studies indicate that the emotional quality of marital relationships is mirrored in parent–child relationships. We explored the degree to which these associations are explained by genetic and environmental factors. Participants were drawn from the Twin and Offspring Study in Sweden (TOSS), and included 544 female twin pairs (258 monozygotic [MZ], 286 dizygotic [DZ]), and 311 male twin pairs (128 MZ, 183 DZ). The spouses and one adolescent child of each twin also participated in this study. The twins completed self-report measures that assessed their marital quality and their warmth and negativity towards their children. Observational ratings of marital warmth and negativity, and of maternal warmth and negativity were obtained for a subset of female twin pairs (150 MZ, 176 DZ). Selfreported marital satisfaction was associated with self-reported parental warmth and negativity for mothers (rs = .25, -.36) and fathers (rs = .25, -.44). For the observational measures, marital warmth was associated with maternal warmth (r = .42), while marital negativity was associated with maternal negativity (r = .34). On average genetic factors explained nearly half of the covariance between selfreported marital satisfaction and parenting for mothers (48%) and fathers (47%). Genetic factors explained 21% of the covariance between observed marital and maternal warmth, but did not contribute to associations between marital and maternal negativity. These findings indicate that parents' genetically influenced characteristics help shape the emotional climate of the family.

AbstractThe Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS) is a prospective adoption study of birth parents, adoptive parents and adopted children (n= 561 adoptees). The original sample has been expanded to include siblings of the EGDS adoptees who were reared by the birth mother and assessed beginning at age 7 years (n= 217 biological children), and additional siblings in both the birth and adoptive family homes, recruited when the adoptees were 8–15 years old (n= 823). The overall study aims are to examine how family, peer and contextual processes affect child and adolescent adjustment, and to examine their interplay (mediation, moderation) with genetic influences. Adoptive and birth parents were originally recruited through adoption agencies located throughout the USA following the birth of a child. Assessments are ongoing and occurred in 9 month's intervals until the adoptees turned 3 years of age, and in 1 to 2 year intervals thereafter through age 15. Data collection includes the following primary constructs: child temperament, behavior problems, mental health, peer relations, executive functioning, school performance and health; birth and adoptive parent personality characteristics, mental health, health, context, substance use, parenting and marital relations; and the prenatal environment. Findings highlight the power of the adoption design to detect environmental influences on child development and provide evidence of complex interactions and correlations between genetic, prenatal environmental and postnatal environmental influences on a range of child outcomes. The study sample, procedures and an overview of findings are summarized and ongoing assessment activities are described.

AbstractThe effect of parental depression on children's adjustment has been well documented, with exposure during early childhood particularly detrimental. Most studies that examine links between parental depression and child behavior are confounded methodologically because they focus on parents raising children who are genetically related to them. Another limitation of most prior research is a tendency to focus only on the effects of maternal depression while ignoring the influence of fathers' depression. The purpose of this study was to examine whether infants' exposure to both parents' depressive symptoms, and inherited risk from birth mother internalizing symptoms, was related to school age children's externalizing and internalizing problems. Study data come from a longitudinal adoption study of 561 adoptive parents, biological mothers, and adopted children. Adoptive fathers' depressive symptoms during infancy contributed independent variance to the prediction of children's internalizing symptoms and also moderated associations between adoptive mothers' depressive symptoms and child externalizing symptoms.

AbstractThe origins of top‐down self‐regulation are attributed to genetic and socialization factors as evidenced by high heritability estimates from twin studies and the influential role of parenting. However, recent evidence suggests that parenting behavior itself is affected by parents' own top‐down self‐regulation. Because children's top‐down self‐regulation is influenced by genetic factors and parenting is influenced by top‐down self‐regulation, the effects of parenting on children's top‐down self‐regulation identified in prior studies may partially reflect passive gene–environment correlation. The goal of this study was to examine parenting influences on children's top‐down self‐regulation using a longitudinal, adoption‐at‐birth design, a method of identifying parenting influences that are independent of the role of shared genetic influences on children's characteristics because adoptive parents are genetically unrelated to their adopted child. Participants (N = 361) included adoptive families and biological mothers of adopted children. Adoptive mothers' and fathers' harsh/negative parenting were assessed when children were 27 months of age and biological mothers' top‐down self‐regulation was assessed when children were 54 months of age. Adopted children's top‐down self‐regulation was assessed when they were 54 and 72 months of age. Results, accounting for child gender, biological mother top‐down self‐regulation, and the potential evocative effects of adopted child anger, provide evidence that inherited influences and socialization processes uniquely contribute to children's top‐down self‐regulation. Furthermore, findings demonstrate the importance of both mother's and father's parenting behavior as an influence on young children's top‐down self‐regulation. The implications of these findings for understanding the complex mechanisms that influence children's top‐down self‐regulation are discussed.

AbstractUsing a sample of linked adopted children, adoptive and birth parents (N = 561), and biological siblings residing in the birth parent home (N = 191), we examined the role of genetics within family stress processes. We tested parental hostility (7 years) as a mediator of the associations between socioeconomic strain and rearing parent psychopathology (4 years) and adolescent externalizing behaviors (11 years) in adoptive and biological parent homes. Next, we examined parent social support (4 years) as a moderator of paths from socioeconomic strain and parent psychopathology to parental hostility. Parental hostility significantly mediated effects of socioeconomic strain and parent psychopathology on adolescent externalizing behaviors in biological and adoptive parent homes, respectively. Equivalence testing of the paths to adolescent externalizing behaviors across family types indicated a negligible role of passive gene–environment correlation. Parent social support significantly attenuated the effect of parent psychopathology on parental hostility in biological families. Birth parent externalizing behaviors were not significantly associated with adoptee externalizing behaviors nor adoptive parent hostility, suggesting negligible heritable risk or evocative gene–environment processes. Full‐ and half‐sibling correlations indicated that children's unique rearing contexts contributed to the parenting they received and the externalizing behavior they exhibited. Implications for intervention are discussed.

Although the adoption rate among same-sex couples has been increasing, limited research has focused on factors influencing decision making related to placing children with such couples, particularly from the standpoint of birth mothers. Additionally, there is a gap in the literature regarding how biases may influence birth mothers' decision to place their child with a same-sex couple. This study sought to examine the association between birth mothers' racial ideologies and their decision to voluntarily place their children with same-sex couples (n = 29) or mother–father couples (n = 354) during the adoption process. Results indicated that birth mothers with stronger color evasive racial attitudes were significantly less likely to place their children with same-sex couples. The need for additional research about the intersections among various forms of bias in the adoption process and the effect of potential interactions between homophobia and racism are discussed. Suggestions for professionals wishing to minimize homophobic and racist bias are provided.