Wait for it! A twin study of inhibitory control in early childhood. Academic Article

abstract

• Inhibitory control (IC) is a dimension of child temperament that emerges in toddlerhood and involves the ability to regulate behavior in response to instructions or expectations. In general, children with low levels of IC have more cognitive and social difficulties, and higher levels of problem behaviors. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on the heritability of this important behavioral dimension. The present study used a twin design to examine the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in IC. Laboratory and parent assessments of IC were conducted on 294 same-sex twin pairs (133 MZ, 161 DZ) at 24 months of age. Model-fitting analyses showed that genetic factors accounted for 38 and 58% of the variance in laboratory- and parent-rated IC, respectively. Multivariate genetic analyses also revealed that the covariance between observed and parent-assessed IC could be predominantly explained by common genetic influences.

authors

• Gagne, Jeffrey

published proceedings

• Behav Genet

author list (cited authors)

• Gagne, J. R., & Saudino, K. J.

citation count

• 53

complete list of authors

• Gagne, Jeffrey R||Saudino, Kimberly J

publication date

• May 2010

publisher

• Springer Nature  Publisher

published in

• Behavior Genetics: an international journal devoted to research in the inheritance of behavior in animals and man  Journal

keywords

• Behavior
• Child, Preschool
• Environment
• Female
• Genetics, Behavioral
• Humans
• Inhibition, Psychological
• Male
• Models, Genetic
• Multivariate Analysis
• Phenotype
• Sex Factors
• Social Environment
• Temperament
• Twins

PubMed Central ID

• 19936910

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1007/s10519-009-9316-6

start page

• 327

end page

• 337

volume

• 40

issue

• 3

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10519-009-9316-6