Evocative effects on the early caregiving environment of genetic factors underlying the development of intellectual and academic ability

Chloe Austerberry; Pasco Fearon; Angelica Ronald; Leslie D Leve; Jody M Ganiban; Misaki N Natsuaki; Daniel S Shaw; Jenae M Neiderhiser; David Reiss

doi:10.1111/cdev.14142

Evocative effects on the early caregiving environment of genetic factors underlying the development of intellectual and academic ability

Child Dev. 2024 Nov-Dec;95(6):2082-2101. doi: 10.1111/cdev.14142. Epub 2024 Jul 30.

Authors

Chloe Austerberry^{1

2}, Pasco Fearon^{1

2}, Angelica Ronald³, Leslie D Leve^{4

5}, Jody M Ganiban⁶, Misaki N Natsuaki⁷, Daniel S Shaw⁸, Jenae M Neiderhiser⁹, David Reiss¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
² Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, UCL, London, UK.
³ School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
⁴ Prevention Science Institute, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA.
⁵ Cambridge Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
⁶ Department of Psychology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
⁷ Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California, USA.
⁸ Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
⁹ Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA.
¹⁰ Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.

Abstract

This study examined gene-environment correlation (rGE) in intellectual and academic development in 561 U.S.-based adoptees (57% male; 56% non-Latinx White, 19% multiracial, 13% Black or African American, 11% Latinx) and their birth and adoptive parents between 2003 and 2017. Birth mother intellectual and academic performance predicted adoptive mother warmth at child age 6 (β = .14, p = .038) and 7 (β = .12, p = .040) but not 4.5 years, and adoptive father warmth at 7 (β = .18, p = .007) but not 4.5 or 6 years. These rGE effects were not mediated by children's language. Contrary to theory that rGE accounts for increasing heritability of intellectual ability, parenting did not mediate genetic effects on children's language or academic performance.

MeSH terms

Academic Performance
Adoption / psychology
Adult
Child
Child Development* / physiology
Child, Adopted
Child, Preschool
Female
Gene-Environment Interaction*
Humans
Intelligence* / physiology
Male
Parenting / ethnology
United States / ethnology

Abstract

MeSH terms

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