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Gene-Environment Interplay in Interpersonal Relationships across the Lifespan pp 13–55Cite as

Gene-Environment Interplay in Parenting Young Children

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Part of the book series: Advances in Behavior Genetics ((AIBG,volume 3))

Abstract

Early parenting is rooted in a complex social system where parental characteristics, contextual factors and child characteristics interact over time. A comprehensive study of early parenting should thus consider a variety of factors, including those associated with the infant (so called “child effects”). Understanding such a complex developmental system is a daunting task, and behaviour-genetic studies, because they are designed to test hypotheses regarding gene-environment processes, are very useful in that endeavour. In the past decade, studies using a variety of genetically informative designs, including twin, adoption, step-family and linkage (i.e., molecular) designs, have shed new light on early parenting and the nature of its association with child socio-emotional development. In this chapter, we review this emerging evidence. Specifically, the chapter examines and discusses environmental and genetic influences, as well as their interplay, on infant attachment and various parenting behaviours. Data pointing to “child effects” on parenting behaviours (i.e. gene-environment correlations) are reviewed, as well as evidence of parental influence on child outcomes and its possible mediation through child heritable characteristics. We discuss the significance of these findings for our understanding of the developmental role of early parenting. We conclude with a discussion of methodological concerns, gaps, and future directions regarding behaviour-genetics research in early parenting.

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  1. École de psychologie, Pavillon Félix-Antoine-Savard, Université Laval, 2325, rue des Bibliothèques, Quebec, G1V 0A6, Canada

    Jeffrey Henry, Michel Boivin & George Tarabulsy

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    Briana N. Horwitz

  2. Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA

    Jenae M. Neiderhiser

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Henry, J., Boivin, M., Tarabulsy, G. (2015). Gene-Environment Interplay in Parenting Young Children. In: Horwitz, B., Neiderhiser, J. (eds) Gene-Environment Interplay in Interpersonal Relationships across the Lifespan. Advances in Behavior Genetics, vol 3. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2923-8_2

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