Boeldt Debra L, Rhee Soo Hyun, Dilalla Lisabeth F, Mullineaux Paula Y, Schulz-Heik R Jay, Corley Robin P, Young Susan E, Hewitt John K
Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.
Infant Child Dev. 2012 Jan;21(1):85-106. doi: 10.1002/icd.764. Epub 2011 Nov 14.
The present study examined the role of positive parenting on externalizing behaviors in a longitudinal, genetically informative sample. It often is assumed that positive parenting prevents behavior problems in children via an environmentally mediated process. Alternatively, the association may be due to either an evocative gene-environment correlation, in which parents react to children's genetically-influenced behavior in a positive way, or a passive gene-environment correlation, where parents passively transmit a risk environment and the genetic risk factor for the behavioral outcome to their children. The present study estimated the contribution of these processes in the association between positive parenting and children's externalizing behavior. Positive parenting was assessed via observations at ages 7, 9, 14, 24, and 36 months and externalizing behaviors were assessed through parent report at ages 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, and 12 years. The significant association between positive parenting and externalizing behavior was negative, with children of mothers who showed significantly more positive parenting during toddlerhood having lower levels of externalizing behavior in childhood; however, there was not adequate power to distinguish whether this covariation was due to genetic, shared environmental, or nonshared environmental influences.
本研究在一个具有遗传信息的纵向样本中考察了积极养育对外化行为的作用。人们通常认为，积极养育通过环境介导的过程预防儿童的行为问题。或者，这种关联可能是由于唤起性基因-环境相关性，即父母以积极的方式对受基因影响的孩子行为做出反应，也可能是被动性基因-环境相关性，即父母将风险环境和行为结果的遗传风险因素被动地传递给孩子。本研究估计了这些过程在积极养育与儿童外化行为之间关联中的作用。通过对7、9、14、24和36个月大的儿童进行观察来评估积极养育，通过父母报告对4、5、7、9、10、11和12岁儿童的外化行为进行评估。积极养育与外化行为之间的显著关联为负相关，即在幼儿期表现出更多积极养育行为的母亲所生的孩子在童年期的外化行为水平较低；然而，没有足够的能力来区分这种共变是由于遗传、共享环境还是非共享环境的影响。
