Marceau Kristine, Narusyte Jurgita, Lichtenstein Paul, Ganiban Jody M, Spotts Erica L, Reiss David, Neiderhiser Jenae M
Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA; Division of Behavior Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Rhode Island Hospital.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2015 Feb;56(2):130-7. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12288. Epub 2014 Jun 30.
There is evidence both that parental monitoring is an environmental influence serving to diminish adolescent externalizing problems and that this association may be driven by adolescents' characteristics via genetic and/or environmental mechanisms, such that adolescents with fewer problems tell their parents more, and therefore appear to be better monitored. Without information on how parents' and children's genes and environments influence correlated parent and child behaviors, it is impossible to clarify the mechanisms underlying this association.
The present study used the Extended Children of Twins model to distinguish types of gene-environment correlation and direct environmental effects underlying associations between parental knowledge and adolescent (age 11-22 years) externalizing behavior with a Swedish sample of 909 twin parents and their adolescent offspring and a US-based sample of 405 White adolescent siblings and their parents.
Results suggest that more parental knowledge is associated with less adolescent externalizing via a direct environmental influence independent of any genetic influences. There was no evidence of a child-driven explanation of the association between parental knowledge and adolescent externalizing problems.
In this sample of adolescents, parental knowledge exerted an environmental influence on adolescent externalizing after accounting for genetic influences of parents and adolescents. Because the association between parenting and child development originates in the parent, treatment for adolescent externalizing must not only include parents but should also focus on altering their parental style. Thus, findings suggest that teaching parents better knowledge-related monitoring strategies is likely to help reduce externalizing problems in adolescents.
有证据表明，父母监督是一种环境影响因素，有助于减少青少年的外化问题，而且这种关联可能是由青少年的特征通过遗传和/或环境机制驱动的，即问题较少的青少年会更多地与父母交流，因此看起来受到了更好的监督。如果没有关于父母和孩子的基因及环境如何影响父母与孩子行为相关性的信息，就无法阐明这种关联背后的机制。
本研究采用扩展双胞胎子代模型，以区分基因-环境相关性的类型以及父母了解程度与青少年（11至22岁）外化行为之间关联背后的直接环境影响，研究样本包括909对瑞典双胞胎父母及其青少年后代，以及405对美国家庭的白人青少年兄弟姐妹及其父母。
结果表明，更多的父母了解程度与更少的青少年外化行为相关，这是通过独立于任何遗传影响的直接环境影响实现的。没有证据表明存在由孩子驱动的对父母了解程度与青少年外化问题之间关联的解释。
在这个青少年样本中，在考虑了父母和青少年的遗传影响后，父母了解程度对青少年外化行为产生了环境影响。由于养育方式与孩子发展之间的关联源于父母，青少年外化行为的治疗不仅必须包括父母，还应侧重于改变他们的养育方式。因此，研究结果表明，教导父母更好的与知识相关的监督策略可能有助于减少青少年的外化问题。
