Demographic Factors, Medication Adherence, and Post-transplant Health Outcomes: A Longitudinal Multilevel Modeling Approach.

Few studies in pediatric solid organ transplantation have examined non-adherence to immunosuppressive medication over time and its associations with demographic factors and post-transplant outcomes including late acute rejection and hospitalizations. We examined longitudinal variation in patient Medication Level Variability Index (MLVI) adherence data from pediatric kidney, liver, and heart transplant recipients. Patient and administrative data from the United Network for Organ Sharing were linked with electronic health records and MLVI values for 332 patients. Multilevel mediation modeling indicated comparatively more variation in MLVI values between patients than within patients, longitudinally, over 10 years post transplant. MLVI values significantly predicted late acute rejection and hospitalization. MLVI partially mediated patient factors and post-transplant outcomes for patient age indicating adolescents may benefit most from intervention efforts. Results demonstrate the importance of longitudinal assessment of adherence and differences among patients. Efforts to promote medication adherence should be adapted to high-risk patients to increase likelihood of adherence.

Building a framework to understand and address vulnerability to reading difficulties among children in schools in the United States.

This paper presents a vulnerability framework as a means to contextualize inequities in reading achievement among children who are vulnerable to poor reading outcomes. Models to understand vulnerability have been applied in the social sciences and public health to identify population disparities and design interventions to improve outcomes. Vulnerability is multifaceted and governed by context. Using a vulnerability framework for the science of reading provides an innovative approach for acknowledging multilevel factors contributing to disparities. The ecological considerations of both individual differences in learners and conditions within and outside of schools ensures that scientific advances are realized for learners who are more vulnerable to experiencing reading difficulty in school.

Exploring the Associations Between Delayed School Entry and Achievement in Primary and Secondary School.

This research investigated whether delayed school entry was associated with higher achievement in national tests of reading and numeracy in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 (n = 2,823). Delayed entry was related to advantages in reading (0.14 SD) and numeracy (0.08 SD) at Grade 3, although little variance was explained (1%-2%). This slight advantage persisted for both domains in Grades 5 and 7, albeit with smaller effects. In Grade 9 there was no association between delayed entry and either reading or numeracy. Exploratory analyses with subsamples in each grade (n = 424-667) revealed no associations between delayed entry and achievement after controlling for inattention and hyperactivity, and negative associations between inattention and achievement in all grades in both domains (-0.33, -0.49 SD).

Differential Patterns of Growth in Reading and Math Skills during Elementary School.

This study investigated developmental trajectories of reading and math using latent-growth-curve analyses across multiple academic skills, measures, and multiple time periods within a single sample. Reading-related growth was marked by significant individual differences during the early elementary-school period and non-significant individual differences during the late elementary-school period. For math-related skills, non-significant individual differences were present for early math growth and significant individual differences were present in late elementary-school. No clear pattern of cumulative, compensatory, or stable development emerged for either reading-related or math skills. These differing growth patterns highlight developmental complexities and suggest domain-specific differences in achievement growth that are potentially associated with contextual factors.

Exploring the Influence of Early Childhood Education and Care on the Etiology of Achievement.

The present study used a genetically-sensitive quantile regression approach to examine the relation between participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and subsequent school performance in literacy and numeracy at grades 3, 5, 7, and 9. The sample consisted of 1255 twin pairs (596 MZ; 659 DZ) with information on both ECEC and the National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) scores from the Twin Study of NAPLAN. Results indicated variation in heritability estimates across the distributions of achievement, suggesting that different patterns of etiological influences may exist among children of different ability levels. Additionally, the results provided no evidence that ECEC significantly influenced achievement, and in the genetically-sensitive analyses, no evidence that ECEC moderated the influences of heritability of achievement for typically advantaged children. These results suggest that ECEC may not provide the levels of environmental support for later achievement that advocates claim, although we acknowledge that ECEC quality, which was not measured in the current study, may make a difference in whether or not ECEC influences achievement.

The Academic Development Study of Australian Twins (ADSAT): Research Aims and Design.

The Academic Development Study of Australian Twins was established in 2012 with the purpose of investigating the relative influence of genes and environments in literacy and numeracy capabilities across two primary and two secondary school grades in Australia. It is the first longitudinal twin project of its kind in Australia and comprises a sample of 2762 twin pairs, 40 triplet sets and 1485 nontwin siblings. Measures include standardized literacy and numeracy test data collected at Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 as part of the National Assessment Program: Literacy and Numeracy. A range of demographic and behavioral data was also collected, some at multiple longitudinal time points. This article outlines the background and rationale for the study and provides an overview for the research design, sample and measures collected. Findings emerging from the project and future directions are discussed.

A Meta-Analytical Review of the Genetic and Environmental Correlations between Reading and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Reading and Math.

According to the Multiple Deficit Model, comorbidity results when the genetic and environmental risk factors that increase the liability for a disorder are domain-general. In order to explore the role of domain-general etiological risk factors in the co-occurrence of learning-related difficulties, the current meta-analysis compiled 38 studies of third through ninth-grade children to estimate the average genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental correlations between reading and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, and reading and math, as well as their potential moderators. Results revealed average genetic, shared and nonshared environmental correlations between reading and ADHD symptoms of .42, .64, and .20, and reading and math of .71, .90, and .56, suggesting that reading and math may have more domain-general risk factors than reading and ADHD symptoms. A number of significant sources of heterogeneity were also found and discussed. These results have important implications for both intervention and classification of learning disabilities.

Differential Influences of Genes and Environment Across the Distribution of Reading Ability.

We partitioned early childhood reading into genetic and environmental sources of variance and examined the full distribution of ability levels from low through normal to high as computed by quantile regression. The full sample comprised twin pairs measured at preschool (n = 977), kindergarten (n = 1028), grade 1 (n = 999), and grade 2 (n = 1000). Quantile regression analyses of the full distribution of literacy ability showed genetic influence in all grades from preschool to grade 2. At preschool, the low end of the distribution had higher genetic influence than the high end of the distribution and the shared environment influence was the opposite. These shared environment influences of preschool became insignificant with formal schooling. This suggests that higher scores in pre-literacy skills (preschool) are more influenced by shared environment factors, though these are short-lived. This study discusses the factors that may be influencing the results.

Twins Research Australia: A New Paradigm for Driving Twin Research.

Twins Research Australia (TRA) is a community of twins and researchers working on health research to benefit everyone, including twins. TRA leads multidisciplinary research through the application of twin and family study designs, with the aim of sustaining long-term twin research that, both now and in the future, gives back to the community. This article summarizes TRA's recent achievements and future directions, including new methodologies addressing causation, linkage to health, economic and educational administrative datasets and to geospatial data to provide insight into health and disease. We also explain how TRA's knowledge translation and exchange activities are key to communicating the impact of twin studies to twins and the wider community. Building researcher capability, providing registry resources and partnering with all key stakeholders, particularly the participants, are important for how TRA is advancing twin research to improve health outcomes for society. TRA provides researchers with open access to its vibrant volunteer membership of twins, higher order multiples (multiples) and families who are willing to consider participation in research. Established four decades ago, this resource facilitates and supports research across multiple stages and a breadth of health domains.

Cross-Study Differences in the Etiology of Reading Comprehension: a Meta-Analytical Review of Twin Studies.

Numerous twin studies have examined the genetic and environmental etiology of reading comprehension, though it is likely that etiological estimates are influenced by unidentified sample conditions (e.g. Tucker-Drob and Bates, Psychol Sci:0956797615612727, 2015). The purpose of this meta-analysis was to average the etiological influences of reading comprehension and to explore the potential moderators influencing these estimates. Results revealed an average heritability estimate of h2 = 0.59, with significant variation in estimates across studies, suggesting potential moderation. Moderation results indicated publication year, grade level, project, zygosity methods, and response type moderated heritability estimates. The average shared environmental estimate was c2 = 0.16, with publication year, grade and zygosity methods acting as significant moderators. These findings support the role of genetics on reading comprehension, and a small significant role of shared environmental influences. The results suggest that our interpretation of how genes and environments influence reading comprehension should reflect aspects of study and sample.

Exploring the Co-Development of Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension: A Twin Study.

This study explores the co-development of two related but separate reading skills, reading fluency and reading comprehension, across Grades 1-4. A bivariate biometric dual change score model was applied to longitudinal data collected from 1,784 twin pairs between the ages of 6 and 10 years. Grade 1 skills were influenced by highly overlapping genetic and environmental factors. Growth in both skills was influenced by highly overlapping shared environmental factors. Cross-lagged parameters indicated bidirectional effects, with stronger effects from fluency to comprehension change than from comprehension to fluency change.

Examining the genetic and environmental associations among spelling, reading fluency, reading comprehension and a high stakes reading test in a combined sample of third and fourth grade students.

The present study is an examination of the genetic and environmental effects on the associations among reading fluency, spelling and earlier reading comprehension on a later reading comprehension outcome (FCAT) in a combined sample of 3rd and 4th grade students using data from the 2011-2012 school year of the Florida Twin project on Reading (Taylor et al., 2013). A genetically sensitive model was applied to the data with results indicating a common genetic component among all four measures, along with shared and non-shared environmental influences common between reading fluency, spelling and FCAT.

Educational experiences of U.S. children during the 2020-2021 school year in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a historic event impacting children around the globe. Prior research on the educational experiences of children during the COVID-19 pandemic focused almost exclusively on spring 2020. This article extends this literature past the initial shock of spring 2020, capturing the first full school year (2020-2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This registered report study utilized a national sample of 1,666 United States twins in kindergarten through 12th grade from 43 states to provide the current descriptive report of children's educational experiences during this time, as reported by their parents. Specifically, we reported on school format, parents' role in education, parent-teacher interactions, schoolwork struggles, technology access, and school services. About half of children attended in-person schooling, with many children switching from online to in-person throughout the school year. Parents saw the pandemic as a risk to their children's education. During the 2020-2021 school year of the pandemic, parents felt they had a larger role in their children's education and were less satisfied in their interactions with teachers than what they experienced during the prepandemic part of the 2019-2020 school year. Children experienced more schoolwork struggles than they had in previous years, and this was similar across age groups. For most constructs, results were equivalent across age group, but parents of younger children tended to provide more schoolwork help. Overall, this article highlights the disruptions in their educational environments that children continued to experience through the first full school year (2020-2021) of the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Measuring CHAOS? Evaluating the short-form Confusion, Hubbub And Order Scale.

The Confusion, Hubbub and Order Scale (CHAOS) - short form - is a survey tool intended to capture information about home environments. It is widely used in studies of child and adolescent development and psychopathology, particularly twin studies. The original long form of the scale comprised 15 items and was validated in a sample of infants in the 1980s. The short form of the scale was developed in the late 1990s and contains six items, including four from the original scale, and two new items. This short form has not been validated and is the focus of this study. We use five samples drawn from twin studies in Australia, the UK, and the USA, and examine measurement invariance of the CHAOS short-form. We first compare alternate confirmatory factor models for each group; we next test between-group configural, metric and scalar invariance; finally, we examine predictive validity of the scale under different conditions. We find evidence that a two-factor configuration of the six items is more appropriate than the commonly used one-factor model. Second, we find measurement non-invariance across groups at the metric invariance step, with items performing differently depending on the sample. We also find inconsistent results in tests of predictive validity using family-level socioeconomic status and academic achievement as criterion variables. The results caution the continued use of the short-form CHAOS in its current form and recommend future revisions and development of the scale for use in developmental research.

The codevelopment of reading and attention from middle childhood to early adolescence: A multivariate latent growth curve study.

Attention skills are strong cross-sectional predictors of reading comprehension from childhood through to adolescence. However, less is known about the developmental relations between these two domains across this period. This study examined the codevelopment of reading and attention in a community sample of 614 Australian school students (50% female). Reading and attention were assessed at ages 8, 10, 12, and 14. Results of univariate latent growth models demonstrated, on average, curvilinear trajectories for reading in which rapid growth across younger age spans decelerates as children reach adolescence. By contrast, attention skills remained relatively stable on average. Significant negative correlations were observed between the intercept and slope factors in separate reading (r = -.62) and attention models (r = -.39) suggesting compensatory growth patterns in which poorer performing students in both domains at age 8 have steeper trajectories than their higher performing peers. A comparison of a multivariate latent growth model and an autoregressive latent trajectory model with structured residuals (ALT-SR) examined the interrelatedness of development in reading and attention. Both between-individual and within-individual cross-domain parameters showed reading and attention to be positively related at Grade 3, indicating an association between better attention and higher reading achievement at age 8. However, there was little evidence for interrelated growth across domains in this sample. The results contribute to theories which explain whether and how multiple cognitive domains codevelop over a substantial period of childhood and early adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Developmental trajectories of eye movements in oral and silent reading for beginning readers: a longitudinal investigation.

Eye movements provide a sensitive window into cognitive processing during reading. In the present study, we investigated beginning readers' longitudinal changes in temporal and spatial measures of eye movements during oral versus silent reading, the extent to which variation in eye movements is attributable to individual differences and text differences, and the functional form of growth trajectories of eye-movement variables. Data were from 363 English-speaking children (52% male; 59.8% White) in the US who were followed longitudinally from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Results showed a rapid decrease in temporal eye-movement measures (e.g., first fixation) and an increase in spatial eye-movement measures (initial landing position) in both oral and silent reading. The majority of variance in eye movements was attributable to individual differences whereas some variance in initial landing position was due to text differences. Most eye-movement measures had nonlinear growth trajectories where fast development tapered off near the end of Grade 3 while initial fixation count and total gaze count in silent reading had a linear growth trajectory. The findings provide a first large-scale look into the developmental progression of eye movements during oral and silent reading during a critical period when reading skills rapidly develop.

Nurture might be nature: cautionary tales and proposed solutions.

Across a wide range of studies, researchers often conclude that the home environment and children's outcomes are causally linked. In contrast, behavioral genetic studies show that parents influence their children by providing them with both environment and genes, meaning the environment that parents provide should not be considered in the absence of genetic influences, because that can lead to erroneous conclusions on causation. This article seeks to provide behavioral scientists with a synopsis of numerous methods to estimate the direct effect of the environment, controlling for the potential of genetic confounding. Ideally, using genetically sensitive designs can fully disentangle this genetic confound, but these require specialized samples. In the near future, researchers will likely have access to measured DNA variants (summarized in a polygenic scores), which could serve as a partial genetic control, but that is currently not an option that is ideal or widely available. We also propose a work around for when genetically sensitive data are not readily available: the Familial Control Method. In this method, one measures the same trait in the parents as the child, and the parents' trait is then used as a covariate (e.g., a genetic proxy). When these options are all not possible, we plead with our colleagues to clearly mention genetic confound as a limitation, and to be cautious with any environmental causal statements which could lead to unnecessary parent blaming.

Trait perspective taking and romantic relationship satisfaction: A meta-analysis.

This meta-analysis evaluated the association between trait perspective taking and romantic relationship satisfaction. The study synthesized the association in 20 separate samples in a total of 18 published and unpublished studies, involving a total of 4,678 participants. The studies were completed by many different research teams, using different samples, different measures, and various correlational research designs. The results showed a significant association between trait perspective taking and romantic relationship satisfaction (r = .21, 95% confidence intervals [.17, .25]). The results did not vary significantly with whether the respondents were men or women, whether they rated their own perspective taking or that of their partner, or whether the perspective taking assessed was general or specific to the partner. The findings provide a basis for future intervention studies that test whether increasing perspective taking has a positive effect on relationship satisfaction. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Comment on Asbury and Wai (2019), "Viewing education policy through a genetic lens," Journal of School Choice.

Asbury and Wai (Journal of School Choice, 2019) perform a valuable service by summarizing much available behavior--genetic research on academic achievement. However they consider that no specific policies stem from the research body at this time. Here we do propose a policy based on some of our research using twins, namely that available funding for students struggling with learning to read be targeted to them individually rather than allocated to schools per se. We briefly canvass some practical issues, such as the variety of funding mechanisms, best-practice intervention techniques, and identification of struggling readers. We also outline a general research strategy for uncovering factors contributing to educational attainment that takes behavior-genetic research as its starting point and drills down from there, and advocate including genetically-sensitive methods in a growing list of quantitative research techniques in education.