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Marital Conflict and Conduct Problems in Children of Twins
Author(s) -
Harden K. Paige,
Turkheimer Eric,
Emery Robert E.,
D'Onofrio Brian M.,
Slutske Wendy S.,
Heath Andrew C.,
Martin Nicholas G.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.00982.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , association (psychology) , conduct disorder , selection (genetic algorithm) , twin study , family conflict , heritability , genetics , biology , artificial intelligence , computer science , psychotherapist
The Children‐of‐Twins design was used to test whether associations between marital conflict frequency and conduct problems can be replicated within the children of discordant twin pairs. A sample of 2,051 children (age 14–39 years) of 1,045 twins was used to estimate the genetic and environmental influences on marital conflict and determine whether genetic or environmental selection processes underlie the observed association between marital conflict and conduct problems. Results indicate that genetic and nonshared environmental factors influence the risk of marital conflict. Furthermore, genetic influences mediated the association between marital conflict frequency and conduct problems. These results highlight the need for quasiexperimental designs in investigations of intergenerational associations.