A Twin-Sibling Study of Observed Parent-Adolescent Interactions

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.