title: The nature (and nurture) of children's perceptions of family chaos.
abstract: Chaos in the home is a key environment in cognitive and behavioral development. However, we show that children's experience of home chaos is partly genetically mediated. We assessed children's perceptions of household chaos at ages 9 and 12 in 2337 pairs of twins. Using child-specific reports allowed us to use structural equation modeling to explore the genetic and environmental etiology of children's perceptions of chaos. We found that these perceptions are significantly heritable (22%), with the remainder explained by environmental influences. Finding that genes influence children's experience of chaotic environments has far-reaching implications for how we conceptualize the family home and its impact on cognitive and behavioral development.
authors.affiliation: Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London.
authors.forename: Ken B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Hanscombe
authors.forename: Claire M A
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Haworth
authors.forename: Oliver S P
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Sara R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Jaffee
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Plomin