O'Connor T G, Hetherington E M, Reiss D, Plomin R
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville 22903, USA.
Child Dev. 1995 Jun;66(3):812-29.
Numerous behavioral genetic studies call attention to the strong and pervasive genetic influence on developmental characteristics. However, this research has been criticized for its use of poor environmental measures and a failure to examine the complex processes that are a hallmark of research in child development. This study addresses this criticism by examining the genetic and environmental components of parent-child interactions. Mother, father, and 2 adolescent siblings (10-18 years) from each of 675 families were observed interacting in 10-min dyadic problem-solving sessions. 6 groups of siblings that differed in genetic relatedness were examined (MZ and DZ twins, full siblings in nondivorced families; full, half, and unrelated siblings in stepfamilies). Results suggest a greater genetic component to adolescent behavior than to parent behavior. Both adolescent and parent behavior showed strong effects of nonshared environment, even after error of measurement was removed.
众多行为遗传学研究提醒人们注意基因对发育特征有着强大且普遍的影响。然而，这项研究因采用了欠佳的环境测量方法以及未能审视儿童发育研究标志性的复杂过程而受到批评。本研究通过考察亲子互动中的基因和环境成分来回应这一批评。来自675个家庭的母亲、父亲以及2名青少年兄弟姐妹（10至18岁）在10分钟的二元问题解决环节中被观察互动情况。研究考察了6组基因相关性不同的兄弟姐妹（同卵双胞胎和异卵双胞胎、非离异家庭中的亲兄弟姐妹；继家庭中的亲兄弟姐妹、半兄弟姐妹和无血缘关系的兄弟姐妹）。结果表明，青少年行为的基因成分比父母行为的基因成分更大。即使去除了测量误差，青少年和父母的行为都显示出非共享环境有着强大的影响。
