Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T15:51:37.387Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genetic amplification and the individualization of the parent–child relationship across adolescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 August 2012

S. Ludeke ,
W. Johnson ,
M. McGue  and
W. G. Iacono
S. Ludeke*
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
W. Johnson
Affiliation:
The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
M. McGue
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
W. G. Iacono
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: S. Ludeke, M.A., Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 E River Parkway, Minneapolis, MN, USA. (Email: lude0011@umn.edu)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Many psychological traits become increasingly influenced by genetic factors throughout development, including several that might intuitively be seen as purely environmental characteristics. One such trait is the parent–child relationship, which is associated with a variety of socially significant outcomes, including mental health and criminal behavior. Genetic factors have been shown to partially underlie some of these associations, but the changing role of genetic influence over time remains poorly understood.

Method

Over 1000 participants in a longitudinal twin study were assessed at three points across adolescence with a self-report measure regarding the levels of warmth and conflict in their relationships with their parents. These reports were analyzed with a biometric growth curve model to identify changes in genetic and environmental influences over time.

Results

Genetic influence on the child-reported relationship with parent increased throughout adolescence, while the relationship's quality deteriorated. The increase in genetic influence resulted primarily from a positive association between genetic factors responsible for the initial relationship and those involved in change in the relationship over time. By contrast, environmental factors relating to change were negatively related to those involved in the initial relationship.

Conclusions

The increasing genetic influence seems to be due to early genetic influences having greater freedom of expression over time whereas environmental circumstances were decreasingly important to variance in the parent–child relationship. We infer that the parent–child relationship may become increasingly influenced by the particular characteristics of the child (many of which are genetically influenced), gradually displacing the effects of parental or societal ideas of child rearing.

Keywords

Behavioural geneticsgenetic amplificationparent–child relationshiplongitudinal research
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , February 2013 , pp. 413 - 422
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akaike, H (1973). Information theory and an extension of the maximum likelihood principle. In Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Information Theory (ed. Petrov, B. N. and Csaki, F.), pp. 267–281. Akademiai Kiado: Budapest.Google Scholar
Baumrind, D (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence 11, 56–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergen, SE, Gardner, CO, Kendler, KS (2007). Age-related changes in heritability of behavioral phenotypes over adolescence and young adulthood: a meta-analysis. Twin Research and Human Genetics 10, 423–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, SA, McGue, M, Krueger, RF, Iacono, WG (2005). How are parent-child conflict and childhood externalizing symptoms related over time? Results from a genetically informative cross-lagged study. Development and Psychopathology 17, 145–165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaves, L, Martin, N, Heath, A, Schieken, R, Meyer, J, Silberg, J, Neale, M, Corey, L (1997). Age changes in the causes of individual differences in conservatism. Behavioral Genetics 27, 121–124.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Elkins, IJ, McGue, M, Iacono, WG (1997). Genetic and environmental influences on parent-son relationships: evidence for increasing genetic influence during adolescence. Developmental Psychology 33, 351–363.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hjelmborg, JVB, Fagnani, C, Silventoinen, K, McGue, M, Korkeila, M, Christensen, K, Rissanen, A, Kaprio, J (2008). Genetic influences on growth traits of BMI: a longitudinal study of adult twins. Obesity 16, 847–852.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holden, GW, Edwards, LA (1989). Parental attitudes toward child rearing: instruments, issues, and implications. Psychological Bulletin 106, 29–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iacono, WG, Carlson, SR, Taylor, J, Elkins, IJ, McGue, M (1999). Behavioral disinhibition and the development of substance-use disorders: findings from the Minnesota Twin Family Study. Development and Psychopathology 11, 869–900.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Iacono, WG, McGue, M (2002). Minnesota Twin Family Study. Twin Research 5, 482–487.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, W, Krueger, RF, Bouchard, TJ, McGue, M (2002). The personalities of twins: just ordinary folks. Twin Research 5, 125–131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Juang, LP, Silbereisen, RK (1999). Supportive parenting and adolescent adjustment across time in former East and West Germany. Journal of Adolescence 22, 719–736.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K (1996). Parenting: a genetic-epidemiologic perspective. American Journal of Psychiatry 153, 11–20.Google ScholarPubMed
Kendler, KS (2001). Twin studies of psychiatric illness: an update. Archives of General Psychiatry 58, 1005–1014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, KS, Baker, JH (2007). Genetic influences on measures of the environment: a systematic review. Psychological Medicine 37, 615–626.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, KS, Myers, J, Prescott, CA, Neale, MC (2001). The genetic epidemiology of irrational fears and phobias in men. Archives of General Psychiatry 58, 257–265.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, KS, Neale, M, Kessler, R, Heath, A (1993). A twin study of recent life events and difficulties. Archives of General Psychiatry 50, 789–796.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, KJ, Conger, RD, Lorenz, FO, Elder, Jr. GH (2001). Parent-adolescent reciprocity in negative affect and its relation to early adult social development. Developmental Psychology 37, 775–790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koenig, LB, McGue, M, Krueger, RF, Bouchard, TJ (2005). Genetic and environmental influences on religiousness: findings for retrospective and current religiousness ratings. Journal of Personality 73, 471–488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Legrand, LN, Keyes, M, McGue, M, Iacono, WG, Krueger, RF (2008). Rural environments reduce the genetic influence on adolescent substance use and rule-breaking behavior. Psychological Medicine 38, 1341–1350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Little, RJA, Rubin, DB (1987). Statistical Analysis with Missing Data. Wiley: New York.Google Scholar
Loeber, R, Drinkwater, M, Yin, Y, Anderson, SJ, Schmidt, LC, Crawford, A (2000). Stability of family interaction from ages 6 to 18. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 28, 353–369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Markon, KE, Krueger, RF (2004). An empirical comparison of information-theoretic selection criteria for multivariate behavior genetic models. Behavior Genetics 34, 593–610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McGue, M, Bacon, S, Lykken, DT (1993 a). Personality stability and change in early adulthood: a behavioral genetic analysis. Developmental Psychology 29, 96–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGue, M, Bouchard, TJ Jr., Iacono, WG, Lykken, DT (1993 b). Behavioral genetics of cognitive ability: a life-span perspective. In Nature, Nurture, and Psychology (ed. Plomin, R. and McClearn, G. E.), pp. 59–76. American Psychological Association: Washington, DC.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGue, M, Elkins, I, Walden, B, Iacono, WG (2005). Perceptions of the parent-adolescent relationship: a longitudinal investigation. Developmental Psychology 41, 971–984.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Metzler, CW, Biglan, A, Ary, DV, Li, F (1998). The stability and validity of early adolescents' reports of parenting constructs. Journal of Family Psychology 12, 600–619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neale, MC, Boker, SM, Xie, G, Maes, HH (2003). Mx: Statistical Modeling, 6th edn.Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University: Richmond, VA.Google Scholar
Neale, MC, Cardon, LR (1992). Methodology for Genetic Studies of Twins and Families. Kluwer: Dordrecht, The Netherlands.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neale, MC, McArdle, JJ (2000). Structured latent growth curves for twin data. Twin Research 3, 165–177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pike, A, McGuire, S, Hetherington, EM, Reiss, D, Plomin, R (1996). Family environment and adolescent depressive symptoms and antisocial behavior: a multivariate genetic analysis. Developmental Psychology 32, 590–604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plomin, R (1986). Development, Genetics, and Psychology. Erlbaum: Hillsdale, NJ.Google Scholar
Plomin, R, DeFries, JC, McClearn, GE, Rutter, M (1997). Behavioral Genetics: A Primer, 3rd edn.Freeman: San Francisco.Google Scholar
Purcell, S (2002). Variance components models for gene-environment interaction in twin analysis. Twin Research 5, 554–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reiss, D, Neiderhiser, JM, Hetherington, EM, Plomin, R (2000). The Relationship Code: Deciphering Genetic and Social Influences on Adolescent Development. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Rothbaum, F, Weisz, JR (1994). Parental caregiving and child externalizing behavior in nonclinical samples: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 116, 55–74.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rowe, DC (1981). Environmental and genetic influences on dimensions of perceived parenting: a twin study. Developmental Psychology 17, 203–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowe, DC (1983). A biometrical analysis of perceptions of family environment: a study of twin and singleton sibling kinships. Child Development 54, 416–423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scarr, S, McCartney, K (1983). How people make their own environments: a theory of genotype environment effects. Child Development 54, 424–435.Google Scholar
Turkheimer, E, Haley, A, Waldron, M, D'Onofrio, B, Gottesman, II (2003). Socioeconomic status modifies heritability of IQ in young children. Psychological Science 14, 623–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walden, B, McGue, M, Lacono, WG, Burt, SA, Elkins, I (2004). Identifying shared environmental contributions to early substance use: the respective roles of peers and parents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 113, 440–450.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed