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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2013

Silvia Alemany ,
Frühling V. Rijsdijk ,
Claire Margaret Alison Haworth ,
Lourdes Fañanás  and
Robert Plomin
Silvia Alemany*
Affiliation:
Universitat de Barcelona Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Frühling V. Rijsdijk
Affiliation:
King's College London
Claire Margaret Alison Haworth
Affiliation:
King's College London
Lourdes Fañanás
Affiliation:
Universitat de Barcelona Instituto de Salud Carlos III
Robert Plomin
Affiliation:
King's College London
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Silvia Alemany, Unitat d'Antropologia, Departament Biologia Animal, Facultat Biologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Avenue Diagonal 645, Barcelona 08028, Spain; E-mail: silvia.alemany@ub.edu.
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Abstract

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.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , May 2013 , pp. 487 - 500
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013

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