The Detection of Environmental Influences on Academic Achievement Appears to Depend on the Analytic Approach.

One long-standing analytic approach in adoption studies is to examine correlations between features of adoptive homes and outcomes of adopted children (hereafter termed 'measured environment correlations') to illuminate environmental influences on those associations. Although results from such studies have almost uniformly suggested modest environmental influences on adopted children's academic achievement, other work has indicated that adopted children's achievement is routinely higher than that of their reared-apart family members, often substantially so. We sought to understand this discrepancy. We examined academic achievement and literacy-promotive features of the home in 424 yoked adoptive/biological families participating in the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS; i.e., adopted children, adoptive mothers, birth mothers, and biological siblings of the adopted children remaining in the birth homes) using an exhaustive modeling approach. Results indicated that, as anticipated, adopted children scored up to a full standard deviation higher on standardized achievement tests relative to their birth mothers and reared-apart biological siblings. Moreover, these achievement differences were associated with differences in the literacy-promotive features of the adoptive and birth family homes, despite minimal measured environment correlations within adoptive families. A subsequent simulation study highlighted noise in measured environmental variables as an explanation for the decreased utility of measured environment correlations. We conclude that the field's heavy focus on measured environment correlations within adoptive families may have obscured detection of specific environmental effects on youth outcomes, and that future adoption studies should supplement their measured environment analyses with mean differences between reared-apart relatives.

Disentangling genetic and environmental influences on early language development: The interplay of genetic propensity for negative emotionality and surgency, and parenting behavior effects on early language skills in an adoption study.

Parenting and children's temperament are important influences on language development. However, temperament may reflect prior parenting, and parenting effects may reflect genes common to parents and children. In 561 U.S. adoptees (57% male) and their birth and rearing parents (70% and 92% White, 13% and 4% African American, and 7% and 2% Latinx, respectively), this study demonstrated how genetic propensity for temperament affects language development, and how this relates to parenting. Genetic propensity for negative emotionality inversely predicted language at 27 months (ß = -.15) and evoked greater maternal warmth (ß = .12), whereas propensity for surgency positively predicted language at 4.5 years (ß = .20), especially when warmth was low. Parental warmth (ß = .15) and sensitivity (ß = .19) further contributed to language development, controlling for common gene effects.

The pernicious role of stress on intergenerational continuity of psychopathology.

Development and Psychopathology has been a premier resource for understanding stressful childhood experiences and the intergenerational continuity of psychopathology. Building on that tradition, we examined the unique and joint influences of maternal stress on children's effortful control (age 7) and externalizing behavior (age 11) as transmitted via genetics, the prenatal environment, and the postnatal environment. The sample included N = 561 adopted children and their biological and adoptive parents. Path models identified a direct effect of biological mother life stress on children's effortful control (ß = -.08) and an indirect effect of her life stress on child externalizing behavior via effortful control (ß = .52), but no main or indirect effects of biological parent psychopathology, prenatal stress, or adoptive mother adverse childhood experiences (ACES). Adoptive mother ACES amplified the association between biological mother life stress and child effortful control (ß = -.08), externalizing behavior (ß = 1.41), and the indirect effect via effortful control, strengthening associations when adoptive mothers reported average or high ACES during their own childhoods. Results suggest that novel study designs are needed to enhance the understanding of how life stress gets "under the skin" to affect psychopathology in the offspring of adults who have experienced stress.

Pubertal status and body image: An inquiry into experiences of adolescents in Ghana and Kenya.

The current study uses a mixed method design to investigate Kenyan and Ghanaian adolescents' experiences of puberty, and the relations between gender, country of origin, pubertal status, and body image appraisals (N = 86; Ghana = 46, Kenya = 40, 52.9% female aged 13 and 14). Qualitative results revealed seven major themes; puberty means a universal period of growth and transition into adulthood but also evokes negative emotions of shame, anxiety, and embarrassment, being in sync with peers during puberty is important and knowing that others in their lives similarly experience puberty is reassuring. Quantitative results revealed significant gender and country differences in pubertal status and body image. Ghanaian adolescents had more advanced pubertal status and more positive body image appraisals compared to Kenyan adolescents. Moderation analysis results revealed that for the Kenyan sample, post-pubertal males had less favorable body image appraisals than their counterparts who were still pre pubertal whilst for females, post-pubertal girls had more favorable body images than their counterparts. No such effects were observed with the Ghanaian sample. The findings highlight the need for context considerations in understanding body image during the pubertal transition to help identify relevant protective factors for possible interventions. The results affirm the importance of positive body image promotions for adolescents within the African context and suggest the need for much more comprehensive sex education with gender-specific components to help allay fears about puberty, thus preventing the development of possible adaptation problems.

Developmental trajectories of behavioral inhibition from infancy to age seven: The role of genetic and environmental risk for psychopathology.

The present study leveraged data from a longitudinal adoption study of 361 families recruited between 2003 and 2010 in the United States. We investigated how psychopathology symptoms in birth parents (BP; Mage  = 24.1 years; 50.5-62.9% completed high school) and adoptive parents (AP; Mage  = 37.8 years; 80.9% completed college; 94% mother-father couples) influenced children's behavioral inhibition (BI) trajectories. We used latent growth models of observed BI at 18 and 27 months, and 4.5 and 7 years in a sample of adopted children (Female = 42%, White = 57%, Black = 11%, Multi-racial = 21%, Latinx = 9%). BI generally decreased over time, yet there was substantial variability in these trajectories. Neither BP nor AP psychopathology symptoms independently predicted systematic differences in BI trajectories. Instead, we found that AP internalizing symptoms moderated the effects of BP psychopathology on trajectories of BI, indicating a gene by environment interaction.

Early manifestations of intellectual performance: Evidence that genetic effects on later academic test performance are mediated through verbal performance in early childhood.

Intellectual performance is highly heritable and robustly predicts lifelong health and success but the earliest manifestations of genetic effects on this asset are not well understood. This study examined whether early executive function (EF) or verbal performance mediate genetic influences on subsequent intellectual performance, in 561 U.S.-based adoptees (57% male) and their birth and adoptive parents (70% and 92% White, 13% and 4% African American, 7% and 2% Latinx, respectively), administered measures in 2003-2017. Genetic influences on children's academic performance at 7 years were mediated by verbal performance at 4.5 years (ß = .22, 95% CI [0.08, 0.35], p = .002) and not via EF, indicating that verbal performance is an early manifestation of genetic propensity for intellectual performance.

Developmental profiles of child behavior problems from 18 months to 8 years: The protective effects of structured parenting vary by genetic risk.

Some children are more affected by specific family environments than others, as a function of differences in their genetic make-up. However, longitudinal studies of genetic moderation of parenting effects during early childhood have not been conducted. We examined developmental profiles of child behavior problems between 18 months and age 8 in a longitudinal parent-offspring sample of 361 adopted children. In toddlerhood (18 months), observed structured parenting indexed parental guidance in service of task goals. Biological parent psychopathology served as an index of genetic influences on children's behavior problems. Four profiles of child behavior problems were identified: low stable (11%), average stable (50%), higher stable (29%), and high increasing (11%). A multinominal logistic regression analysis indicated a genetically moderated effect of structured parenting, such that for children whose biological mother had higher psychopathology, the odds of the child being in the low stable group increased as structured parenting increased. Conversely, for children whose biological mother had lower psychopathology, the odds of being in the low stable group was reduced when structured parenting increased. Results suggest that increasing structured parenting is an effective strategy for children at higher genetic risk for psychopathology, but may be detrimental for those at lower genetic risk.

Parenting in the Context of the Child: Genetic and Social Processes.

The focus on the role of parenting in child development has a long-standing history. When measures of parenting precede changes in child development, researchers typically infer a causal role of parenting practices and attitudes on child development. However, this research is usually conducted with parents raising their own biological offspring. Such research designs cannot account for the effects of genes that are common to parents and children, nor for genetically influenced traits in children that influence how they are parented and how parenting affects them. The aim of this monograph is to provide a clearer view of parenting by synthesizing findings from the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS). EGDS is a longitudinal study of adopted children, their birth parents, and their rearing parents studied across infancy and childhood. Families (N = 561) were recruited in the United States through adoption agencies between 2000 and 2010. Data collection began when adoptees were 9 months old (males = 57.2%; White 54.5%, Black 13.2%, Hispanic/Latinx 13.4%, Multiracial 17.8%, other 1.1%). The median child age at adoption placement was 2 days (M = 5.58, SD = 11.32). Adoptive parents were predominantly in their 30s, White, and coming from upper-middle- or upper-class backgrounds with high educational attainment (a mode at 4-year college or graduate degree). Most adoptive parents were heterosexual couples, and were married at the beginning of the project. The birth parent sample was more racially and ethnically diverse, but the majority (70%) were White. At the beginning of the study, most birth mothers and fathers were in their 20s, with a mode of educational attainment at high school degree, and few of them were married. We have been following these family members over time, assessing their genetic influences, prenatal environment, rearing environment, and child development. Controlling for effects of genes common to parents and children, we confirmed some previously reported associations between parenting, parent psychopathology, and marital adjustment in relation to child problematic and prosocial behavior. We also observed effects of children's heritable characteristics, characteristics thought to be transmitted from parent to child by genetic means, on their parents and how those effects contributed to subsequent child development. For example, we found that genetically influenced child impulsivity and social withdrawal both elicited harsh parenting, whereas a genetically influenced sunny disposition elicited parental warmth. We found numerous instances of children's genetically influenced characteristics that enhanced positive parental influences on child development or that protected them from harsh parenting. Integrating our findings, we propose a new, genetically informed process model of parenting. We posit that parents implicitly or explicitly detect genetically influenced liabilities and assets in their children. We also suggest future research into factors such as marital adjustment, that favor parents responding with appropriate protection or enhancement. Our findings illustrate a productive use of genetic information in prevention research: helping parents respond effectively to a profile of child strengths and challenges rather than using genetic information simply to identify some children unresponsive to current preventive interventions.

Gene × Environment Interactions in the Development of Preschool Effortful Control, and Its Implications for Childhood Externalizing Behavior.

This study examined the role of gene × environment interaction (G × E) in the development of effortful control (EC) and externalizing symptoms (EXT). Participants included 361 adopted children, and their Adoptive Parents (APs) and Birth Mothers (BMs), drawn from the Early Growth and Development Study. The primary adoptive caregivers' (AP1) laxness and overreactivity were assessed when children were 27-months-old, and used as indices of environmental influences on EC. Heritable influences on child EC were assessed by the BMs' personality characteristics (emotion dysregulation, agreeableness). Secondary adoptive caregivers (AP2) reported on children's EC at 54 months, and EXT at 7 years. Interactions between BM characteristics and AP1 laxness were related to EC and indirectly predicted EXT via EC. Parental laxness and EC were positively associated if children had high heritable risk for poor EC (BM high emotion dysregulation or low agreeableness), but negatively associated if children had low heritable risk for poor EC (BM low emotion dysregulation or high agreeableness). BM agreeableness also moderated associations between AP1 overreactivity and effortful control, and yielded a similar pattern of results. Our findings suggest that G × E is an important first step in the development of EXT via its effect on EC. Consistent with "goodness of fit" models, heritable tendencies can affect which parenting practices best support EC development.

The role of child negative emotionality in parenting and child adjustment: Gene-environment interplay.

BACKGROUND: Evocative gene-environment correlation (rGE) describes a process through which children's heritable characteristics influence their rearing environments. The current study examined whether heritable influences on parenting and children's behavioural outcomes operate through child negative emotionality. METHOD: Using data from the Early Growth and Development Study, we examined associations among adoptive parent reports of child anger and sadness at 4.5 years, adoptive parents' hostile and warm parenting at 6 years and child behavioural problems and social competence at age 7. Birth parent temperament was included to test whether child effects on parents reflect evocative gene-environment correlation (rGE). RESULTS: Child anger at 4.5 years evoked hostile parenting from adoptive parents at 6 years, which was subsequently related to child problem behaviours at 7 years. Evocative rGE effects were identified for adoptive parents' hostile parenting. CONCLUSIONS: By employing a genetically informed design, we found that birth parent temperament was related to child negative emotionality. Adoptive parents were sensitive to child negative emotionality, and this sensitivity was linked to the child's later adjustment.

The codevelopment of adolescents' and parents' anxiety and depression: Moderating influences of youth gender and psychophysiology.

METHODS: In a 2-year longitudinal study of 220 families, we examined how youth gender and adrenocortical and parasympathetic activity moderated reciprocal, bidirectional relations between parent and youth anxiety and depression problems. RESULTS: Maternal anxiety predicted subsequent youth anxiety and depression. Maternal depression predicted youth anxiety and, for daughters and youth with low adrenocortical reactivity, youth depression. Youth depression predicted maternal depression only for youth with high adrenocortical reactivity. There were no associations between paternal and youth psychopathology. DISCUSSION: Examining youth gender and psychophysiological characteristics that shape the nature of bidirectional influences may inform efforts to identify families at heightened risk for intergenerational transmission of psychopathology.

Examining reciprocal associations between parent depressive symptoms and child internalizing symptoms on subsequent psychiatric disorders: An adoption study.

INTRODUCTION: The dynamic interplay between parent depressive symptoms and child internalizing behavior over time is not well understood. METHODS: We used data from a prospective parent-offspring adoption design (N = 561) to examine associations between adoptive parent depressive symptoms and child internalizing behavior when children were ages 18 months, 27 months, 4.5 years, and 6 years, and subsequent child psychiatric disorder symptoms when children were between the ages of 6-8 years. Models also accounted for the contributions of birth parent psychopathology, birth mother depressive symptoms during pregnancy, and infant negative emotionality. Bidirectional associations between adoptive parent depressive symptoms and child internalizing behavior were examined using a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model. RESULTS: There was evidence for associations between child internalizing behavior and adoptive parent depressive symptoms over time, with mothers' depressive symptoms being a more salient risk factor for child internalizing behavior than fathers'. We found one significant cross-lagged association from adoptive mother depressive symptoms at child age 18 months to child internalizing behavior at age 27 months. Infant negative emotionality (i.e., emotional liability) at age 9 months predicted both child internalizing behavior and adoptive parent depressive symptoms. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that postnatal maternal depressive symptoms confer specific risks for child internalizing behaviors in toddlerhood and childhood and depressive symptoms in childhood.

Using an adoption design to test genetically based differences in risk for child behavior problems in response to home environmental influences.

Differential susceptibility theory (DST) posits that individuals differ in their developmental plasticity: some children are highly responsive to both environmental adversity and support, while others are less affected. According to this theory, "plasticity" genes that confer risk for psychopathology in adverse environments may promote superior functioning in supportive environments. We tested DST using a broad measure of child genetic liability (based on birth parent psychopathology), adoptive home environmental variables (e.g., marital warmth, parenting stress, and internalizing symptoms), and measures of child externalizing problems (n = 337) and social competence (n = 330) in 54-month-old adopted children from the Early Growth and Development Study. This adoption design is useful for examining DST because children are placed at birth or shortly thereafter with nongenetically related adoptive parents, naturally disentangling heritable and postnatal environmental effects. We conducted a series of multivariable regression analyses that included Gene × Environment interaction terms and found little evidence of DST; rather, interactions varied depending on the environmental factor of interest, in both significance and shape. Our mixed findings suggest further investigation of DST is warranted before tailoring screening and intervention recommendations to children based on their genetic liability or "sensitivity."

Fertility Problems and Parenting Daily Hassles in Childhood: A 7-year Longitudinal Study of Adoptive Parents.

Fertility problems are known to exert a negative impact on psychological health. Meanwhile, individuals with fertility challenges often view adoption as a positive healing experience. Yet, a dearth of work has examined the long-term impact that fertility problems have on adoptive parents and their childrearing stress. Here, we investigated how fertility problems related to parenting daily hassle (PDH) trajectories among adoptive mothers and fathers in the Early Growth and Development Study (N = 333). When adopted children were 9 months old, adoptive parents reported whether they had fertility problems prior to their decision to adopt and rated their PDH frequency and intensity on six occasions over the next 7 years. Multilevel models revealed inverse U-shaped curves for PDH among both fertile and infertile parents, such that PDH increased from child age 9 months until about 5 to 6 years and decreased thereafter. Mothers with fertility problems exhibited a steeper PDH incline from 9 months to the peak at child age 5 to 6, but also incurred a swifter subsequent decline. There were no significant differences in fathers' PDH trajectories based on fertility problems. We discuss why fertility problems appear to impact PDH trajectories for mothers rather than fathers.

Examining the Role of Genetic Risk and Longitudinal Transmission Processes Underlying Maternal Parenting and Psychopathology and Children's ADHD Symptoms and Aggression: Utilizing the Advantages of a Prospective Adoption Design.

Although genetic factors may contribute to initial liability for ADHD onset, there is growing evidence of the potential importance of the rearing environment on the developmental course of ADHD symptomatology. However, associations between family-level variables (maternal hostility, maternal depressive symptoms) and child behaviors (developmental course of ADHD and aggression) may be explained by genes that are shared by biologically related parents and children. Furthermore, ADHD symptoms and aggression commonly co-occur: it is important to consider both simultaneously to have a better understanding of processes underlying the developmental course of ADHD and aggression. To addresses these issues, we employed a longitudinal genetically sensitive parent-offspring adoption design. Analyses were conducted using Cohort I (n = 340) of the Early Growth and Development Study with cross-validation analyses conducted with Cohort II (n = 178). Adoptive mother hostility, but not depression, was associated with later child ADHD symptoms and aggression. Mothers and their adopted children were genetically unrelated, removing passive rGE as a possible explanation. Early child impulsivity/activation was associated with later ADHD symptoms and aggression. Child impulsivity/activation was also associated with maternal hostility, with some evidence for evocative gene-environment correlation processes on adoptive mother depressive symptoms. This study provides novel insights into family-based environmental influences on child ADHD and aggression symptoms, independent of shared parental genetic factors, implications of which are further explicated in the discussion.

Acne vulgaris and risk of depression and anxiety: A meta-analytic review.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown an association of acne vulgaris with depression and anxiety, but a quantitative review has not yet been conducted. OBJECTIVE: We sought to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis that elucidates the association of acne vulgaris with depression and anxiety. METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis of literature published before October 1, 2019 from the PubMed, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, and Cochrane databases was conducted. We used a metaanalytic approach to perform a random effects analysis comparing individuals with and without acne. Subgroup analyses between studies included age, study setting, and geographic region. RESULTS: Forty-two studies were included. We found a significant association of acne vulgaris with depression (r = 0.22 [95% confidence interval 0.17-0.26, P < .00001]) and anxiety (r = 0.25 [95% confidence interval 0.19-0.31, P < .00001]). Subgroup analyses and comparisons showed moderating influences based on factors including age, study setting, and geographic region. LIMITATIONS: Inconsistency between publications regarding acne and outcome ascertainment, data reporting, and studies with no control group posed considerable barriers to synthesizing all available published literature. CONCLUSIONS: Because of an increased risk for depression and anxiety, clinicians should pursue aggressive treatment of acne and consider psychiatric screening or referrals.

The intergenerational transmission of mathematics achievement in middle childhood: A prospective adoption design.

The present study uses a parent-offspring adoption design to examine the dual roles of heritable and environmental influences on children's mathematics achievement. Linked sets (N = 195) of adopted children, adoptive parents, and birth parents each completed a measure of mathematics fluency (i.e., simple computational operations). Birth parent mathematics achievement and adoptive father mathematics achievement positively correlated with child achievement scores at age 7, whereas adoptive mother and adopted child mathematics achievement scores were not significantly associated with one another. Additionally, findings demonstrated no significant effects of gene-environment interactions on child mathematics achievement at age 7. These results indicate that both heritable and rearing environmental factors contribute to children's mathematics achievement and identify unique influences of the paternal rearing environment on mathematics achievement in middle childhood.

Child Effects on Parental Negativity: The Role of Heritable and Prenatal Factors.

This study examined two possible mechanisms, evocative gene-environment correlation and prenatal factors, in accounting for child effects on parental negativity. Participants included 561 children adopted at birth, and their adoptive parents and birth parents within a prospective longitudinal adoption study. Findings indicated child effects on parental negativity, such that toddlers' negative reactivity at 18 months was positively associated with adoptive parents' over-reactive and hostile parenting at 27 months. Furthermore, we found that child effects on parental negativity were partially due to heritable (e.g., birth mother [BM] internalizing problems and substance use) and prenatal factors (e.g., BM illicit drug use during pregnancy) that influence children's negative reactivity at 18 months. This study provides critical evidence for "child on parent" effects.

Early pubertal maturation and externalizing behaviors: Examination of peer delinquency as mediator and cognitive flexibility as a moderator.

INTRODUCTION: While peer delinquency is a known mediator between early pubertal timing and externalizing behaviors, little is known about factors that could protect against the adverse influence of peer delinquency. This study assesses the possible moderating role of cognitive flexibility, which is one index of executive functioning that facilitates flexible and adaptive responses to challenging situations. We assessed the interactive influence of peer delinquency and cognitive flexibility in the association between pubertal maturation and externalizing behaviors in boys and girls. METHOD: Participants were 220 adolescents (111 boys) from the United States, between the ages of 11 and 16 years (M = 13.2, SD = 1.53) who participated in the Adolescent Emotion Study (AES). RESULTS: Findings from the cross-sectional path modeling analyses provided evidence for the mediating role of peer delinquency for boys and girls, indicating that early maturing adolescents tend to affiliate with delinquent peers, which in turn exacerbates externalizing problems. Additionally, the moderating role of cognitive flexibility was also demonstrated for both boys and girls. Region of significance tests revealed that relatively well-developed cognitive flexibility skills could protect against the adverse influences of peer delinquency, whereas lower levels could exacerbate those negative influences. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that involvement with deviant peers increases vulnerability for both early maturing boys and girls. Additionally, cognitive flexibility was an important moderating factor for adolescents, such that youths with less developed skills would be at a higher risk for psychopathology, whereas those with better development could be protected.

Maternal and paternal influences on childhood anxiety symptoms: A genetically sensitive comparison.

This study tested the theory that anxious fathers pose a quantitatively different environmental influence on childhood anxiety than anxious mothers. The analysed sample contained 502 linked adoption units from the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS), a longitudinal multisite study that follows 561 adopted children (57.2% boys) and their adoptive and birth parents, who were recruited through US adoption agencies. A Bayesian latent growth model predicted child anxiety symptoms between 18 months and 4.5 years from inherited (birth parent anxiety) and rearing parent anxiety. This model revealed little evidence for a difference in the influence of maternal and paternal rearing parent anxiety on child anxiety symptoms. Contrary to theoretical predictions, anxiety in the rearing father is likely to have an equivalent influence to that of the mother on both child anxiety symptoms at 18 months old and their developmental trajectory over the preschool years.