Journal Article

A Behavior-Genetic Study of the Legacy of Early Caregiving Experiences: Academic Skills, Social Competence, and Externalizing Behavior in Kindergarten

Fraley, R. Chris, Roisman, Glenn I.

2012

Overview

A critique of research examining whether early experiences with primary caregivers are reflected in adaptation is that relevant longitudinal studies have generally not employed genetically informed research designs capable of unconfounding shared genes and environments. Using the twin subsample (N = 485 pairs) of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, the current study provides evidence that early parental support (derived from observations at 24 months and around age 4, in prekindergarten) is associated with academic skills (r = .32), social competence (r = .15), and externalizing behavior (r = -.11) in kindergarten. Crucially, the shared environment accounted for virtually all of the correlation between parenting and academic skills, roughly half of the association between parenting and social competence, and approximately one fourth of the correlation between parenting and externalizing behavior.

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Ltd,Wiley-Blackwell,Oxford University Press
• Subject: Academic Ability / Academic aptitude / Achievement / Adolescent / Affective Behavior / Behavior / Behavior modeling / Behavior Problems / Behavioral genetics / Behavioural psychology / Biological and medical sciences / Caregivers / Caregiving / Carers / Caring / Child / Child Behavior / Child care / Child development / Child Rearing / Child, Preschool / Childhood / Children / Competence / Correlation / Developmental psychology / Early childhood / Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey / Emotional Intelligence - genetics / EMPIRICAL ARTICLES / Environmental Influences / Externalizing behaviour / Family support / Female / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Genes / Genetic variation / Genetics / Genetics, Behavioral / Humans / Internal-External Control / Interpersonal Competence / Kindergarten / Kindergarten education / Kindergartens / Longitudinal Studies / Male / Modeling / Models, Genetic / Parent Child Relationship / Parenting / Parenting - psychology / Parents / Parents & parenting / Personality Assessment / Personality Development / Preschool education / Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry / Psychology. Psychophysiology / Research design / Skills / Social competence / Social Development / Social Environment / Social factors / Social skills / Social Support / Socialization / Statistical variance / Twins / Twins - genetics / Twins - psychology / Young Children