Sibling Resemblance Research Articles

Genetic Contributions to Adolescents' Extrafamilial Social Interactions: Teachers, Best Friends, and Peers

AbstractThe purpose of the present study was to investigate genetic and environmental contributions to individual differences in adolescents' social interactions outside the family. We investigated sibling resemblance for adolescents' reports of interactions with best friends and teachers, and parents' perceptions of adolescents' peer groups in 701 same‐sex adolescent sibling pairs aged 10‐18, using a twin, full sibling, and step sibling design. Our goals were to assess the magnitude of sibling resemblance, and to disentangle resemblance due to shared genetic heritage from that due to shared environmental experiences. Substantial genetic influence was found for parents' perceptions of adolescents' peer groups. Adolescents' reports of positive interactions with teachers and best friends also showed significant genetic influence. In contrast, individual differences in adolescents' reports of negative interactions with teachers and best friends showed no significant genetic influence. In addition, most environmental influences for social interactions with teachers, best friends, and peers were largely of the nonshared variety, suggesting that growing up in the same family does not make adolescents similar in their extrafamilial social interactions.

Sibling resemblance in two manual laterality tasks

Two tests of manual performance were adapted for French children: a dot-filling test and a tapping test. Sibling resemblance was assessed in a sample of 46 pairs of sibs. The power of intra-class correlation was estimated by a procedure of Approximate Randomization Tests. In both tests sibling resemblance was significant for overall level of motor skill (i.e. when the two hands were considered separately). Sibling resemblance was significant for degree of laterality in the dot-filling test (the closest task to writing) but not in the tapping test. The usefulness of including degree of laterality measures, in future genetic research is discussed.

学業成績及び知能のきょうだい間類似についての縦断的研究

The purpose of this study was to deter mine degrees of sibling resemblance from the results of longitudinal testing of intelligence and school achievement. Research data was obtained from ten elementary schools and one junior high school, all in remote areas. Yearly scores from longitudinal tests on the same children served as data for this study. Using the above data we were able to compare siblings of the same age bracket. The main results were as follows:1) Sibling resemblance in school achievement differed according to age;2) Intra-class rs between siblings tended to be higher for contiguous siblings than for noncontiguous siblings;3) Sibling resemblance tended to be greater in verbal IQ than in IQ Performance. These findings indicate that nonshared environmental factors lead to developmental differences between siblings.

SIBLING RESEMBLANCE IN JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: FINDINGS FROM THE NATIONAL YOUTH SURVEY*

Analyses based on individual‐ and family‐level self‐report data indicate that (1) delinquency incidents are disproportionately concentrated among households with adolescents, (2) families do not specialize in delinquency by producing certain types of offenders, and (3) adolescent levels of delinquency are predicted equally as well by the offending of an older sibling. the offending of a younger sibling, or by the average level of offending among all other adolescents in the household. Three sets of family characteristics (socioeconomic status, composition, and functioning) are used in multivariate analyses to examine the association among sibling delinquency levels. while sibling composition and family functioning are significant predictors of adolescent delinquency, only family functioning accounts for a small proportion of sibling resemblance in offending. These analyses add to the growing body of research that suggests that sibling similarity in delinquency requires additional consideration in theoretical and empirical investigations of juvenile offending.

Family resemblance for Preece-Baines growth curve parameters in the fels longitudinal growth study.

The Preece-Baines Model 1 (PB1) nonlinear regression equation was fit to serial stature measurements from 456 participants in the Fels Longitudinal Growth Study. The resulting model parameters and derived biological parameters, such as age, stature, and velocity at take-off (TO) and peak velocity (PV) are analyzed for family resemblance in 228 nuclear families through estimation of familial correlations and path coefficients. Significant family resemblance was found for all of the growth parameters. Transmissibility estimates ranged from 41%-71%, suggesting that some of the factors controlling the timing and shape of the adolescent growth spurt are transmitted from parent to child. Significant gender effects were found in sibling resemblance, with brother-brother pairs more similar than other pairs for age at TO and PV and sister-sister pairs more alike for stature at TO and PV and for velocity at PV. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Familial correlations of HDL subclasses based on gradient gel electrophoresis.

We used nondenaturing polyacrylamide gradient gel electrophoresis to examine the familial correlations of high density lipoprotein (HDL) subclasses for 150 offspring in 47 nuclear families. The absorbance of protein stain was used as an index of mass concentrations at intervals of 0.01 nm within five HDL subclasses: HDL3c (7.2-7.8 nm), HDL3b (7.8-8.2 nm), HDL3a (8.2-8.8 nm), HDL2a (8.8-9.7 nm), and HDL2b (9.7-12 nm). Parent-offspring correlations were computed for two different characterizations of the parents: 1) by sex (i.e., mother versus father) and 2) by their relative values (highest versus lowest HDL). Sibling resemblance was assessed by using the intraclass correlations coefficient. Family members were significantly related for the following subclasses: HDL3c (sibling and father-offspring), HDL3b (sibling), HDL3a (sibling and mother-offspring), HDL2a (mother-offspring), and HDL2b (sibling, father-offspring, and mother-offspring). The offsprings' HDL3c and HDL2b values were more strongly related to their fathers' than to their mothers' values, whereas their HDL2a levels were more strongly related to their mothers' than their fathers' values. In addition, fathers' HDL2b levels were inversely correlated with the offsprings' HDL3b. The parents' HDL subclass levels were more strongly related to subclass levels of their younger (< or = 20 years) than their older offspring. Among all subclasses, HDL2b showed the strongest parent-offspring relation, with the parents' HDL values accounting for over 30% of the variance in offsprings' HDL2b.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Interrelations between early child development, gestational age and birth weight

Five traits of early child development were studied in 656 infants from the day of birth till 2 years of age. The infants selected for follow-up were born at 26–42 weeks of gestational age and with a birth weight accordingly ranging from 860 to 4560g. Analysis of variance was carried out for each of the following five traits which entailed the age at which a child: 1) turned himself over (turned); 2) sat unsupported for a few seconds (sat); 3) stood up (stood); 4) walked unsupported (walked); and 5) cut its first tooth (tooth). The results of this survey show no significant sex differences in the age of initial occurrence of any of the studied traits. Comparison with older siblings of the surveyed infants indicated a significant sibling resemblance component for all 5 trais, with the respective intraclass correlation coefficients ranging between 0.34 and 0.53. Gestational age and birth weight, but not “tooth”, appeared to be important messages of an infant's motor development, insofar as onset of the studied traits. The separate correlations of “turned”, “sat”, “stood” and “walked” with gestational age or weight were all negative and statistically highly significant.

Conceptual Issues in Models of Sibling Resemblance: Comment on Hauser and Mossel (1985) and Hauser (1988)

Previous articleNext article No AccessCommentary and DebateConceptual Issues in Models of Sibling Resemblance: Comment on Hauser and Mossel (1985) and Hauser (1988)Michael W. GillespieMichael W. Gillespie Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Sociology Volume 97, Number 1Jul., 1991 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/229745 Views: 3Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1991 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:William H Sewell, Robert M Hauser, Kristen W Springer, Taissa S Hauser AS WE AGE: A REVIEW OF THE WISCONSIN LONGITUDINAL STUDY, 1957–2001, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 20 (Jan 2003): 3–111.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0276-5624(03)20001-9

Heterogeneity among populations for familial aggregation of blood pressure.

A simple model of familial aggregation was applied to age-sex corrected systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure data from two separate studies: The Québec Family Study and the Tecumseh Community Health Study. Examination of the familial correlations suggested heterogeneity across studies in all DBP correlations, but for SBP only spouse correlations were higher in Québec. Fitting the path model to the data revealed that the only source of heterogeneity for SBP was in spouse resemblance (u), which was significant in Québec but could be dropped from the model in Tecumseh. For SBP, no further heterogeneity was detected, with the vertical transmission being compatible with (but not evidence for) purely polygenic inheritance (i.e., τf = τm = 1/2). Familiality estimates (t2 ) for SBP were quite high (nearly 40%), and extra sibling resemblance was significant. For DBP, heterogeneity was detected in all parameters of the model except for spouse resemblance. Common sibship environmental effects (b) were of little importance in Tecumseh but were highly significant in Québec. Vertical transmission from mothers (τm ) could be fixed at 1/2 in Tecumseh but was only about half as large in Québec, and familiality estimates were higher in Québec (nearly 60%) than in Tecumseh (about 25%). One source of the heterogeneity for SBP was due to cohabitation, which positively impacted on sibling correlations. The source of the sample heterogeneity in DBP may be through environmental factors which have a smaller impact in Tecumseh than in Québec, although genetic heterogeneity could not be ruled out. Differences in the study designs, as well as differences in the two populations, could account for the heterogeneity detected.

Family resemblance for patterns of growth in early childhood.

Parameters of the Jenss curve representing linear and non-linear components of growth in early childhood were fitted to longitudinal recumbent length and weight measurements from participants in the Fels Longitudinal Growth Study. Nuclear family correlations were estimated for each of four Jenss parameters (a linear intercept and slope and a non-linear intercept and degree of curve) for length and for weight. The TAU path model was fit to the correlations, in order to estimate path coefficients representing transmissibility from parent to child (t2 ) and non-transmissible sibling resemblance (s). Likelihood ratio χ2 tests suggest that significant family resemblance exists for each Jenss parameter for both variables. Transmissibility is the major component in family resemblance for the linear and non-linear intercepts for length, whereas non-transmissible sibling environmental effects are dominant for three of the four weight parameters. The source of the family resemblance for the remaining parameters could not be pinpointed. The linear slope and degree of curve for weight are more similar for same sex siblings than for opposite sex pairs, suggesting that the degree of shared sibling environment affecting the shape of the growth curve for weight may be greater for same sex pairs.

Social contact and sibling similarity: Facts, issues, and red herrings

We consider evidence that shared experience is associated with sibling resemblance and report new analyses of our earlier data to assess the magnitude and meaning of that association. We cite recent Swedish studies of early separated twins and present new data from reared-apart twins in Finland. Results of these analyses confirm our earlier conclusion that, for some dimensions of personality and life-style, twins who cohabit longer into adulthood and twins who retain closer contact after separation are more alike. Further, new analyses here reported are consistent with our earlier inference that, for neuroticism and consumption of alcohol, cotwin differences in contact precede, and causally contribute to, differences in behavioral similarity.

Nonshared experiences within the family: Correlates of behavioral problems in middle childhood

AbstractOne of the most dramatic findings from quantitative genetic research is that environmental influences shared by siblings in a family do not make the siblings similar in terms of psychopathology. Sibling resemblance for psychopathology appears to be genetic rather than environmental in origin; environmental influences that affect the development of psychopathology must be nonshared and make children in the same family different rather than similar. This study sets out to identify environmental factors that differ for young siblings and to assess associations between such nonshared factors and differences in the older siblings' outcome in two domains: internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Maternal interview and observations of differential maternal and sibling behavior were compared within 67 sibling dyads (younger and older siblings aged 4 and 7 years, respectively, on average), and differential experiences were related to the adjustment of the older sibling, as assessed by mother and teacher. Differential maternal behavior appeared to be particularly important as a predictor of adjustment problems. Older siblings showed internalizing problems in families in which mothers were less affectionate to the older than to the younger sibling. Greater maternal control toward the older than the younger sibling predicted both internalizing and externalizing problems. Differential maternal behavior explained 34% of the variance of internalizing behavior and 27% of the variance of externalizing behavior problems, independent of variance explained by family structure variables. Although the sample was unselected for psychopathology and was too small to permit analyses of the diagnosable extremes of internalizing and externalizing dimensions, these results are encouraging in relation to the goal of identifying systematic sources of nonshared environment that affect the development of psychopathology.

Change in cohabitation and intrapair similarity of monozygotic (MZ) cotwins for alcohol use, extraversion, and neuroticism

We have reported cross-sectional evidence that behavioral similarities of adult monozygotic (MZ) cotwins are associated with their age at initial separation and the frequency of their subsequent social interaction (Kaprio et al., 1987; Rose et al., 1988; Rose and Kaprio, 1988). Twins who separated early and twins in infrequent interaction were less alike. Data for those reports came from a 1981 survey of the Finnish Twin Cohort. The Finnish cohort had been surveyed in 1975 with a similar questionnaire, and we now report a longitudinal analysis of the 1975-1981 surveys. All cohabiting MZ cotwins, ages 18-25 at the 1975 baseline, were followed up in 1981, and pairwise similarities at baseline and follow-up were compared for three groups: MZ pairs that remained cohabiting, separated pairs in which the cotwins retained regular contact with one another, and separated cotwins whose social interactions at follow-up were infrequent. For alcohol consumption and EPI Neuroticism scores, relative similarities of the MZ cotwins at follow-up paralleled the relative frequencies of their social contact; baseline differences in resemblance for Extraversion scores preceded follow-up differences in social interaction. These findings clarify the directional nature of associations found in our cross-sectional data and provide new, more compelling evidence of effects of shared experience on sibling resemblance for some dimensions of adult behavior.

Structural Modeling by Example: Applications in Educational, Sociological, and Behavioral Research.

Preface List of contributors 1. Introduction Peter Cuttance and Russell Ecob 2. An overview of structural equation modeling Russell Ecob and Peter Cuttance 3. Field dependence and the differentiation of neurotic syndromes Katharine R. Parkes 4. High school seniors' reports of parental socioeconomic status: black-white differences Lee M. Wolfle 5. Modeling the hierarchical structure of learning Peter W. Hill 6. A study of longitudinal causal models comparing gain score analysis with structural equation approaches Leslie Hendrickson and Barnie Jones 7. Some structural equation models of sibling resemblance in educational attainment and occupational status Robert M. Hauser and Peter A. Mossel 8. Applications of structural equation modeling to longitudinal educational data Russell Ecob 9. The robustness of maximum likelihood estimation in structural equation models Anne Boomsma 10. An inquiry into the effects of outliers on estimates of a structural equation model of basic skills assessment Joan K. Gallini and Jim F. Casteel 11. Testing structural equation models W. E. Saris, J. Den Ronden and A. Satorra 12. LISREL models for inequality constraints in factor and regression analysis Henk Kelderman 13. Issues and problems in the application of structural equation models Peter Cuttance Appendix Glossary Index.

Sibling Resemblance and Intersibling Effects in Educational Attainment

Motivated by Benin and Johnsonss (1984) study of 2 samples of adult Nebraska siblings the authors model reciprocal influence between male siblings to determine whether there is reciprocal influence between siblings or a predominant flow of influence from older to younger siblings in the determination of educational attainment. Contrary to Benin and Johnson this reanalysis of their data shows that differences in common family variance among types of sibling pairs are not derived from an unusually high level of fraternal resemblance but only from the unusually low similarity between older sisters and younger brothers. While the Nebraska data do not identify a model with reciprocal effects between brothers educational attainments suitable data are available in Olnecks (1976) study of brothers from Kalamazoo Michigan. These permit the estimation of reciprocal effects of brothers educational attainments. In modeling the Kalamazoo data the authors use a mixture of multiple proxy reports and self-reports to take account of random and correlated response errors in the measured variables. In brief they find evidence of reciprocal influence of brothers levels of educational attainment net of the common effects of family background and the effect of each brothers mental ability on his schooling. The unconstrained effect of older brothers schooling on younger brothers schooling is larger than the reciprocal effect but there is no significant difference between the 2 effects. This leaves open the questions whether reciprocal influence occurs in other types of sibling pairs and whether there is a predominant effect of older on younger siblings. (authors)

Familial resemblances for cognitive abilities profiles of Caucasian and Japanese Americans

Individual differences between performance on the Verbal vs the Spatial, the Verbal vs the Perceptual speed, and the Spatial vs the Perceptual speed factors obtained from a battery of 15 cognitive abilities tests were calculated for Americans of European ancestry and Americans of Japanese ancestry in the Hawaii Family Study of Cognition. Spouse, parent-offspring, and sibling resemblances on these difference scores (i.e. on the shapes of the cognitive abilities profiles) were all as high or higher than the familial resemblances for the separate abilities factors.

Familial aggregation of blood pressure and heart rate responses during behavioral stress.

Parent-offspring and sibling resemblances in blood pressure and heart rate responses to behavioral stress were evaluated in a sample of 142 families residing in an upper-middle-class community in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area between 1983 and 1985. The sample consisted of 121 daughters and 96 sons ranging in age from 7 to 18 years, and 141 mothers and 119 fathers ranging in age from 31 to 62 years. Three stressors were presented to all participants: serial subtraction, mirror image tracing, and isometric handgrip exercise. Multivariate analyses of the stress responses were based on maximum likelihood estimations of the magnitude of association, which provided collective significance tests, and were adjusted for familial resemblance of resting pressure and heart rate as well as body mass index. These analyses showed significant parent-offspring and sibling associations in resting blood pressure and body mass index, which replicate those found in previous epidemiological investigations. The novel findings in this study were the sibling similarities in heart rate responses to mirror image tracing and in systolic blood pressure responses to isometric handgrip exercise. An analysis of a subset of the sample--only those nonmedicated parents compliant with instructions not to smoke or drink caffeinated or alcoholic beverages for 3 hr prior to testing and their children--showed a parent-offspring resemblance in systolic blood pressure responses to isometric exercise. This analysis, along with the significant sibling association from the full sample, suggests that systolic blood pressure responses to static exercise might aggregate in the family. The results are discussed in light of previous twin data. The relative paucity of significant parent-offspring associations of physiological parameters during serial subtraction and mirror image tracing tasks implies that non-familial influences are most important in determining cardiovascular responses to psychological stress.

Environmental and sibling resemblance components of variance and covariance in traits of early child development

The multiple regression analyses were undertaken to elucidate the significance and relative importance of different potential determinants of several child development traits (i.e. age at which child 1. turns himself over; 2. sits up; 3. stands up; 4. walks, and 5. cuts his first tooth). Despite the fact that we used a relatively wide gamut of potential determinants (such as parental age, geographic origin, occupation, current residence, or family size) of trait variability, the results of multiple regression analysis (N = 300 families) indicate an almost complete absence of significant factors and studied variables of development. Sibling resemblance component of variance and covariance for five mentioned traits of development and some morphological characters (weight, length and head circumference at day of birth and at 16 months) were studied in 66 families. The transmissibility ("heritability") values for the development traits were small, ranging from 0 ("Turn") to 0.42 ("Walked"). The Findings suggest that there are significant inverse relationship between some of the developmental traits and inborn morphological characters.

Sibling and Intergenerational Correlations in Welfare Program Participation

Many previous studies have used sibling correlations to measure the effect of family background on earnings, income? and occupational status. This paper uses data on a sample of sisters to explore the importance of family background as a determinant of welfare program participation. The results show a strikingly high degree of sibling resemblance in welfare receipt. For example, a woman's estimated probability of having participated in welfare programs is .20 if her sister has not participated, but is -.66 if her sister has participated.

Family resemblance for anthropometric and blood pressure measurements in Black Caribs and Creoles from St. Vincent Island.

This paper examines family resemblance for five anthropometric measurements (height, weight, triceps skinfold, upper arm circumference relaxed [UACR] and flexed [UACF] and for systolic and diastolic blood pressure in a group of adult Caribbean islanders of primarily African ancestry. Six hypotheses about family resemblance are tested by using path analysis and likelihood ratios. Significant intergenerational transmission is found only for height and UACR. For weight, UACF, and diastolic blood pressure, non-transmissible sibling resemblance is the primary component of family resemblance, although significant marital resemblance exists for diastolic blood pressure. Triceps skinfold and systolic blood pressure show no evidence of any family resemblance. Although results for highly heritable traits such as height are comparable to reports from other populations, measurements with a large contribution from common family environment or residual environmental effects, such as triceps skinfold or blood pressure, have much lower family resemblance in this population than in other populations. We hypothesize that this difference is due to the fact that adult children and their parents do not share a common household in this culture and to the presence of major nonfamilial environmental factors contributing to obesity and hypertension in this population.