Anger/frustration, task persistence, and conduct problems in childhood: a behavioral genetic analysis.
BACKGROUND
Individual differences in conduct problems arise in part from proneness to anger/frustration and poor self-regulation of behavior. However, the genetic and environmental etiology of these connections is not known.


METHODS
Using a twin design, we examined genetic and environmental covariation underlying the well-documented correlations between anger/frustration, poor attention regulation (i.e., task persistence), and conduct problems in childhood. Participants included 105 pairs of MZ twins and 154 pairs of same-sex DZ twins (4-8 year olds). Independent observers rated child persistence and affect based on behavior during a challenging in-home cognitive and literacy assessment. Teachers and parents provided reports of conduct problems.


RESULTS
Persistence, anger/frustration, and conduct problems included moderate heritable and nonshared environmental variance; conduct problems included moderate shared environmental variance as well. Persistence and anger/frustration had independent genetic covariance with conduct problems and nonshared environmental covariance with each other.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings indicate genetically distinct though inter-related influences linking affective and self-regulatory aspects of temperament with behavior problems in childhood.
Deater-Deckard
Kirby
K
Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA. kirbydd@vt.edu
Petrill
Stephen A
SA
Thompson
Lee A
LA
D000786:Anger; D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005639:Frustration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012927:Social Control, Informal; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013694:Temperament; D014427:Twins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*