title: A twin-sibling study of observed parent-adolescent interactions.
abstract: Numerous behavioral genetic studies call attention to the strong and pervasive genetic influence on developmental characteristics. However, this research has been criticized for its use of poor environmental measures and a failure to examine the complex processes that are a hallmark of research in child development. This study addresses this criticism by examining the genetic and environmental components of parent-child interactions. Mother, father, and 2 adolescent siblings (10-18 years) from each of 675 families were observed interacting in 10-min dyadic problem-solving sessions. 6 groups of siblings that differed in genetic relatedness were examined (MZ and DZ twins, full siblings in nondivorced families; full, half, and unrelated siblings in stepfamilies). Results suggest a greater genetic component to adolescent behavior than to parent behavior. Both adolescent and parent behavior showed strong effects of nonshared environment, even after error of measurement was removed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903, USA.
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hetherington
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reiss
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Plomin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011340:Problem Solving; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D011594:Psychometrics; D012801:Sibling Relations; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014427:Twins / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*