Remembered parental bonding in adult twins: genetic and environmental influences.
One common assumption in psychology is the impact of parenting and parent-child relationships on the child's adjustment throughout the life span. Studies have indicated that there are genetic influences on memories of parenting, but how these influences are mediated has not typically been investigated. A sample of 150 pairs of monozygotic and 176 pairs of dizygotic Swedish twin women reported on personal characteristics and on remembered relationships with their mother and father using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). Quantitative genetic analyses showed moderate genetic influences for remembered parental warmth, which also was partly explained by genetic influences for optimism, aggression, and humor. The other two PBI scales, authoritarianism and protectiveness, showed only shared and nonshared environmental influences. One interpretation of the findings is that heritable personal characteristics of children elicit parental warmth. However, other explanations such as personality characteristics influencing how experiences with parents are interpreted or circumstances in adult life that affect the recall of experiences could not be ruled out.
Department of Medical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet, Box 281, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. paul.lichtenstein@mep.ki.se
Paul
P
Lichtenstein
Jody
J
Ganiban
Jenae M
JM
Neiderhiser
Nancy L
NL
Pedersen
Kjell
K
Hansson
Marianne
M
Cederblad
Olof
O
Elthammar
David
D
Reiss
D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D010551:Personality / Q000235:genetics*; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014429:Twins, Dizygotic; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic