Poster #74 - Genetic and Environmental Contributions to Parental Warmth and Negativity Across the Preschool Years

• In Event: Poster Session 10

Abstract

Despite the critical function of parenting in early child development, few studies have examined genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change in parenting across the preschool years. Given the long-lasting benefits of parental warmth and potential consequences of parental negativity on child development, it is valuable to understand the relative importance of children’s genetic makeup and environments for stability and change in both parental warmth and negativity. Across the preschool years, do children’s genetically influenced characteristics affect the parenting they receive (i.e., evocative child effects) at specific ages or do genetic factors account for parenting stability? Alternatively, are stability and changes in parenting shaped by experiences that are family wide (shared environment) or specific to the child (nonshared environment)? The current study examined genetic and environmental contributions to rank-order stability and change in parental warmth and parental negativity across ages 3, 4, and 5 years using a longitudinal twin design.
The sample included 310 twin pairs (n = 620) and their primary caregivers who were participating in the longitudinal Boston University Twin Project study. The twins’ primary caregivers’ reported on their own warmth and negativity via the Parent Feelings Questionnaire (PFQ). A common pathway model was used to estimate genetic (A), shared (C) and nonshared (E) environmental contributions to a latent parenting factor that accounts for common variance in parenting across all three ages (i.e., stability), and to age-specific residual variance in parenting (i.e., change). Separate analyses were conducted for parental warmth and parental negativity.
Results showed that parental warmth and negativity demonstrate moderate rank order stability from ages 3 to 5 (r’s ranged from .583 to .711). Parental warmth and parental negativity were inversely associated within each age (r’s ranged from -.604 to -.581) and over time (r’s ranged from -.604 to -.389). For the latent parental warmth factor (see figure 1), C explained most variance (62% to 69%), while A and E accounted for modest variance. C also explained most age-specific variance at all ages (11% to 25%). However, at age 5, A also explained significant age-specific variance (16%). For the latent parental negativity factor (see figure 2), A and C explained similar amounts of variance: A 39% - 48%, C 40%-47%. E accounted for modest variance. A also explained most age-specific variance in negative parenting at all ages (16% to 29%), whereas there was no significant variance attributed to C.
These findings indicate that there is little evidence of genetically-influenced child effects on parental warmth: Rather family-wide factors account for stability and change in parental warmth. In contrast, children’s genetically-influenced characteristics play important roles in stability and change in parental negativity. Thus, interventions should aim to target contextual variables, including family dynamics, to foster parental warmth. On the other hand, parent behaviors and reactions to the child should be the focus to minimize the negative consequences of parental negativity.

Authors

• Seon K. Lee, George Washington University
  Presenting Author

• Jody M. Ganiban, George Washington University

• Kimberly J Saudino, Boston University