Child-driven Effects Research Articles

Genetic origin of the relationship between parental negativity and behavior problems from early childhood to adolescence: A longitudinal genetically sensitive study

Little is known about how genetic and environmental factors contribute to the association between parental negativity and behavior problems from early childhood to adolescence. The current study fitted a cross-lagged model in a sample consisting of 4,075 twin pairs to explore (a) the role of genetic and environmental factors in the relationship between parental negativity and behavior problems from age 4 to age 12, (b) whether parent-driven and child-driven processes independently explain the association, and (c) whether there are sex differences in this relationship. Both phenotypes showed substantial genetic influence at both ages. The concurrent overlap between them was mainly accounted for by genetic factors. Causal pathways representing stability of the phenotypes and parent-driven and child-driven effects significantly and independently account for the association. Significant but slight differences were found between males and females for parent-driven effects. These results were highly similar when general cognitive ability was added as a covariate. In summary, the longitudinal association between parental negativity and behavior problems seems to be bidirectional and mainly accounted for by genetic factors. Furthermore, child-driven effects were mainly genetically mediated, and parent-driven effects were a function of both genetic and shared-environmental factors.

Longitudinal effects of adaptability on behavior problems and maternal depression in families of adolescents with autism.

Research on families of individuals with autism has tended to focus on child-driven effects utilizing models of stress and coping. The current study used a family systems perspective to examine whether family level adaptability promoted beneficial outcomes for mothers and their adolescents with autism over time. Participants were 149 families of children diagnosed with autism who were between the ages of 10 and 22 years during the 3-year period examined. Mothers reported on family adaptability, the mother-child relationship, their own depressive symptoms, and the behavior problems of their children at Wave 1, and these factors were used to predict maternal depression and child behavior problems 3 years later. Family level adaptability predicted change in both maternal depression and child behavior problems over the study period, above and beyond the contribution of the dyadic mother-child relationship. These associations did not appear to depend upon the intellectual disability status of the individual with autism. Implications for autism, parent mental health, family systems theory, and intervention with this population are discussed.

The Effects of Nonshared Environments on Adolescent Depression: Findings From a Sample of Monozygotic Twins

Behavioral genetic research has revealed that nonshared environments are associated with depression and depressive symptomatology. Research examining specific nonshared environments related to adolescent depression remains relatively limited. To address this gap in the published data, we analyzed a sample of monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effects of nonshared environmental variables on adolescent depression. We used the MZ-twin-difference-scores method on data from MZ twins (n = 289 twin pairs) drawn from the Add Health to examine the effect of specific nonshared environments on adolescent depression. Findings from the MZ-difference-scores analyses revealed that between-twin differences in maternal disengagement were significantly related to differences in adolescent depression. Additional analyses revealed that the association between adolescent depression and maternal disengagement was largely a child-driven effect. Compared with previous research that has implicated maternal socialization in the development of depression among adolescents, the results of the current study revealed that differences in maternal socialization were a response and not a cause of adolescent depression.

The Association Between Parenting and Levels of Self-Control

A growing body of criminological research has tested Gottfredson and Hirschi’s parental management thesis that highlights the causal role that parents play in shaping their child’s level of self-control. Although the results of these studies appear to provide support for the parental management thesis, in general, they all fail to adequately control for genetic factors and child-driven effects, which may result in biased findings. The current study addresses these limitations by analyzing a sample of twin pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Following quantitative genetic analysis, the results revealed that after taking into account genetic factors and child-driven effects, none of the covariance between parental management techniques and levels of low self-control was explained by parental socialization. The importance of these findings for criminological research examining the influence of parents on self-control specifically and antisocial behaviors generally is discussed.

Internalizing Behavior in Adolescent Girls Affects Parental Emotional Overinvolvement: A Cross-lagged Twin Study

The aim of this study was to examine the direction and the etiology of the association between different parenting styles (parental emotional overinvolvement [EOI] and parental criticism) and internalizing behavior from adolescence to early adulthood. A longitudinal genetically informative cross-lagged design was applied to a population-based sample of Swedish twins contacted at age 16-17 (n=2369) and at age 19-20 (n=1705). Sex-limitation modelling revealed different effects for boys and girls. For girls, genetic influences on internalizing problems at age 16-17 independently explained 2.7% of the heritability in parental EOI at age 19-20. These results suggest that emotionally overinvolved and self-sacrificing parental behavior stems in part from daughters (but not sons) genetic predisposition for internalizing behavior. These findings highlight the importance of genetically influenced child-driven effects underlying the parenting-internalizing association, and clarify that the role of such effects may differ depending on sex, type of parenting and developmental period.

Relationships Between Parental Negativity and Childhood Antisocial Behavior over Time: A Bidirectional Effects Model in a Longitudinal Genetically Informative Design

This study examined the direction and etiology underlying the relationships between parental negativity and early childhood antisocial behavior using a bidirectional effects model in a longitudinal genetically informative design. We analyzed parent reports of parental negativity and early childhood antisocial behavior in 6,230 pairs of twins at 4 and 7 years of age. Results from a cross-lagged twin model contribute to the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the bidirectional processes involved in parental negativity and childhood antisocial behavior. Specifically, the findings of this study suggest that the association between parenting and child antisocial behavior is best explained by both parent-driven and child-driven effects. We found support for the notion that parent's negative feelings towards their children environmentally mediate the risk for child antisocial behavior. We also found evidence of genetically mediated child effects; in which genetically influenced antisocial behavior evoke parental negativity towards the child.