“Parenting As a Reaction Evoked by Children’s Genotype: A Meta-Analysis of Children-As-Twins Studies”, 2013-08-12 (; similar):
Parenting has been extensively studied but mostly as a causal factor influencing child outcomes. The aim of the current article is to examine the child’s side of the relationship by meta-analyzing studies which used quantitative genetic methods that provide leverage in understanding causality.
A meta-analysis of 32 children-as-twins studies of parenting revealed a heritability estimate of 23%, thus indicating that genetically influenced behaviors of the child affect and shape parental behavior. The shared-environment and nonshared-environmental estimates, which amounted to 43% and 34%, respectively, indicate not only substantial consistency in parental behavior but also differential treatment within the family. Assessment method, age, and parenting dimension were found to be statistically-significant moderators of these influences.
Our findings stress the importance of accounting for genotype-environment correlations in child-development studies and call into question previous research that interpreted correlational results in unidirectional terms with parenting as the sole causal factor.
[Keywords: genotype-environment correlation, evocative, parenting, child influences, twin studies]