Genetic and Environmental Influences on Temperament in Middle Childhood: Analyses of Teacher and Tester Ratings

Parent ratings of temperament in infancy and childhood yield evidence for genetic influence in twin studies but not in adoption studies. The present study used the sibling adoption design to investigate teacher and tester ratings of temperament in middle childhood. When each child was 7 years old, r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 1996-04, Vol.67 (2), p.409-422
Main Authors: Schmitz, Stephanie, Saudino, Kimberly J., Plomin, Robert, Fulker, David W., DeFries, J. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adopted Children
Adoption - psychology
Analysis of Variance
Behavioral genetics
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child Behavior
Child development
Child psychology
Childhood
Colorado
Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory
Covariance
Developmental psychology
Elementary School Teachers
Emotionality
Environment
Environmental-Genetic factors
Examiners
Faculty
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Genetic Variation
Genetics
Genetics, Behavioral
Humans
Longitudinal studies
Male
Multivariate Analysis
Nature Nurture Controversy
Parents - psychology
Personality
Personality Inventory
Prospective Studies
Psychological Evaluation
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Research Design
Siblings
Sociability
Temperament
Temperament - physiology
Twin studies
Young Children
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Summary:Parent ratings of temperament in infancy and childhood yield evidence for genetic influence in twin studies but not in adoption studies. The present study used the sibling adoption design to investigate teacher and tester ratings of temperament in middle childhood. When each child was 7 years old, ratings on the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory were obtained from a teacher and tester for more than 50 pairs each of adoptive and nonadoptive siblings in the Colorado Adoption Project. Significant genetic influence emerged for both teacher and tester ratings of Activity, for tester ratings of Sociability, and for teacher ratings of Emotionality. Results obtained from bivariate genetic analysis suggest that the modest covariance between teacher and tester ratings of Activity is entirely mediated genetically. Except for teacher ratings of Attention Span, evidence of shared family environment was nonsignificant, despite the power of the sibling adoption design to detect it.
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.2307/1131823