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Finkel D, Davis DW, Giangrande EJ, Womack S, Turkheimer E, Beam C. Socioeconomic status impacts genetic influences on the longitudinal dynamic relationship between temperament and general cognitive ability in childhood: The Louisville Twin Study. Child Dev 2021; 93:e135-e148. [PMID: 34741532 PMCID: PMC8941284 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Revised: 08/18/2021] [Accepted: 09/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The current analysis investigates genetic and environmental influences on the bidirectional relationships between temperament and general cognitive ability (GCA). Measures of GCA and three temperament factors (persistence, approach, and reactivity) were collected from 486 children ages 4-9 years (80% white, 50% female) from the Louisville Twin Study from 1976 to 1998. The results indicated a bidirectional dynamic model of temperament influencing subsequent GCA and GCA influencing subsequent temperament. The dynamic relationship between temperament and GCA arose primarily from shared genetic variance, particularly in families with higher socioeconomic status, where input from temperament contributed on average 20% to genetic variance in GCA versus 0% in lower SES families.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah Finkel
- Department of Psychology, Indiana University Southeast, New Albany, Indiana, USA.,Institute for Gerontology, Jönköping University, Jönköping, Sweden
| | - Deborah W Davis
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA
| | - Evan J Giangrande
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Sean Womack
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Eric Turkheimer
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
| | - Christopher Beam
- Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA
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Murray DW, Rosanbalm K, Christopoulos C, Meyer AL. An Applied Contextual Model for Promoting Self-Regulation Enactment Across Development: Implications for Prevention, Public Health and Future Research. J Prim Prev 2019; 40:367-403. [PMID: 31372788 DOI: 10.1007/s10935-019-00556-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
This theoretical paper presents a public health approach for promoting self-regulation across development that is based in cross-disciplinary theory and research. The self-regulation promotion model includes three key approaches that are each dependent on the relationship that children and youth have with caregivers: teaching self-regulation skills, building supportive environments, and providing co-regulation. This model extends the science of self-regulation insofar as it: (1) focuses on promoting wellbeing (not only reducing risks) across domains of functioning, (2) addresses self-regulation intervention across childhood and through young adulthood, (3) integrates multiple theories and applies them to intervention in meaningful ways, and (4) identifies specific strategies that can be used in natural developmental contexts and that address the social ecological environment as well as the individual child. We describe seven key principles that support the model including a description of self-regulation processes and implications for promoting self-regulation at each developmental stage. We end with broad implications for intervention, highlighting the relevance of the self-regulation promotion model for practitioners, policy makers, and prevention researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Desiree W Murray
- Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 8185, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-8185, USA. .,The Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, USA.
| | - Katie Rosanbalm
- Center for Child and Family Policy, Duke University, Durham, USA
| | | | - Aleta L Meyer
- Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C., USA
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Williams KE, White SL, MacDonald A. Early mathematics achievement of boys and girls: Do differences in early self-regulation pathways explain later achievement? LEARNING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.lindif.2016.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Jõgi AL, Kikas E. Calculation and word problem-solving skills in primary grades - Impact of cognitive abilities and longitudinal interrelations with task-persistent behaviour. BRITISH JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY 2015; 86:165-81. [PMID: 26499761 DOI: 10.1111/bjep.12096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2015] [Revised: 09/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Mehr SA, Schachner A, Katz RC, Spelke ES. Two randomized trials provide no consistent evidence for nonmusical cognitive benefits of brief preschool music enrichment. PLoS One 2013; 8:e82007. [PMID: 24349171 PMCID: PMC3859544 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2013] [Accepted: 10/23/2013] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Young children regularly engage in musical activities, but the effects of early music education on children's cognitive development are unknown. While some studies have found associations between musical training in childhood and later nonmusical cognitive outcomes, few randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been employed to assess causal effects of music lessons on child cognition and no clear pattern of results has emerged. We conducted two RCTs with preschool children investigating the cognitive effects of a brief series of music classes, as compared to a similar but non-musical form of arts instruction (visual arts classes, Experiment 1) or to a no-treatment control (Experiment 2). Consistent with typical preschool arts enrichment programs, parents attended classes with their children, participating in a variety of developmentally appropriate arts activities. After six weeks of class, we assessed children's skills in four distinct cognitive areas in which older arts-trained students have been reported to excel: spatial-navigational reasoning, visual form analysis, numerical discrimination, and receptive vocabulary. We initially found that children from the music class showed greater spatial-navigational ability than did children from the visual arts class, while children from the visual arts class showed greater visual form analysis ability than children from the music class (Experiment 1). However, a partial replication attempt comparing music training to a no-treatment control failed to confirm these findings (Experiment 2), and the combined results of the two experiments were negative: overall, children provided with music classes performed no better than those with visual arts or no classes on any assessment. Our findings underscore the need for replication in RCTs, and suggest caution in interpreting the positive findings from past studies of cognitive effects of music instruction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel A. Mehr
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Adena Schachner
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Rachel C. Katz
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Elizabeth S. Spelke
- Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
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Berry D, Deater-Deckard K, McCartney K, Wang Z, Petrill SA. Gene-environment interaction between dopamine receptor D4 7-repeat polymorphism and early maternal sensitivity predicts inattention trajectories across middle childhood. Dev Psychopathol 2013; 25:291-306. [PMID: 23627945 PMCID: PMC8182928 DOI: 10.1017/s095457941200106x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Evidence suggests that the 7-repeat variant of a 48 base pair variable number tandem repeat polymorphism in the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene may be associated with the development of attention problems. A parallel literature suggests that genes linked to dopaminergic functioning may be associated with differential sensitivity to context, such that the direction of the genetic effect is hypothesized to vary across environmental experience. Guided by these literatures, we used data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development to consider (a) whether individual differences in children's inattention problems across middle childhood are predicted by gene-environment interactions between the DRD4 gene 7-repeat polymorphism and children's experiences of maternal sensitivity across infancy and early childhood and (b) the degree to which such interactions are consistent with the differential-sensitivity model. Largely consistent with the hypothesized model, gene-environment interactions indicated that, in the context of insensitive early maternal care, the DRD4 7-repeat polymorphism was associated with higher levels of inattention. Although somewhat less consistently, there was also evidence that, in the context of highly sensitive care, the 7-repeat polymorphism was associated with lower levels of inattention. Overall, the magnitude of the absolute genetic effect increased over time, as children's inattention trajectories diverged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Berry
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 61820, USA.
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McClelland MM, Acock AC, Piccinin A, Rhea SA, Stallings MC. Relations between Preschool Attention Span-Persistence and Age 25 Educational Outcomes. EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY 2013; 28:314-324. [PMID: 23543916 PMCID: PMC3610761 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecresq.2012.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 171] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
This study examined relations between children's attention span-persistence in preschool and later school achievement and college completion. Children were drawn from the Colorado Adoption Project using adopted and non-adopted children (N = 430). Results of structural equation modeling indicated that children's age 4 attention span-persistence significantly predicted math and reading achievement at age 21 after controlling for achievement levels at age 7, adopted status, child vocabulary skills, gender, and maternal education level. Relations between attention span-persistence and later achievement were not fully mediated by age 7 achievement levels. Logistic regressions also revealed that age 4 attention span-persistence skills significantly predicted the odds of completing college by age 25. The majority of this relationship was direct and was not significantly mediated by math or reading skills at age 7 or age 21. Specifically, children who were rated one standard deviation higher on attention span-persistence at age 4 had 48.7% greater odds of completing college by age 25. Discussion focuses on the importance of children's early attention span-persistence for later school achievement and educational attainment.
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Bocknek EL, Brophy-Herb HE, Fitzgerald H, Burns-Jager K, Carolan MT. Maternal psychological absence and toddlers' social-emotional development: interpretations from the perspective of boundary ambiguity theory. FAMILY PROCESS 2012; 51:527-541. [PMID: 23230983 DOI: 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2012.01411.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
The current study tests a novel latent construct reflecting psychological absence and examines its relations with maternal depression, mother-toddler interactions, and toddlers' social-emotional outcomes in a low-income sample (N = 2,632). Structural equation modeling confirmed a psychological absence construct and revealed that psychological absence, measured at the child's 36-month birthday-related assessment, is a significant predictor of children's social-emotional development at 36 months, mediated by mother-child interaction. Results are interpreted within a boundary ambiguity framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erika L Bocknek
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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Abstract
Actigraphs and parent and observer ratings were used to explore genetic influences on continuity and change in activity level (AL) in early childhood. Over 300 pairs of twins wore actigraphs for a 48-hr period in the home and laboratory at ages 2 and 3. AL was genetically influenced at both ages with little evidence of differential heritability across age. For all measures, genetic influences contributed to phenotypic continuity. With the exception of the actigraph measure of AL in the home, new genetic effects emerged at age 3 indicating that genetic factors influence both continuity and change in AL in early childhood. Nonshared environmental influences were also a source of change in AL across the transition from infancy to early childhood.
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Biological systems and the development of self-regulation: integrating behavior, genetics, and psychophysiology. J Dev Behav Pediatr 2007; 28:409-20. [PMID: 18049327 DOI: 10.1097/dbp.0b013e3181131fc7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Self-regulation is the ability to control inner states or responses with respect to thoughts, emotions, attention, and performance. As such, it is a critical aspect of development and fundamental to personality and behavioral adjustment. In this review, we focus on attentional, cognitive, and emotional control as we discuss the genetic mechanisms and brain mechanisms that contribute to individual differences in self-regulation. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for deviations in the development of this complex construct and suggestions for future research.
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Banerjee PN, Tamis-LeMonda CS. Infants’ persistence and mothers’ teaching as predictors of toddlers’ cognitive development. Infant Behav Dev 2007; 30:479-91. [DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2006.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2006] [Revised: 11/03/2006] [Accepted: 12/01/2006] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Persaud R. Failure to replicate gene-environment interactions in psychopathology. Biol Psychiatry 2007; 62:544-5; author reply 545. [PMID: 17300758 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.10.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2006] [Revised: 10/23/2006] [Accepted: 10/23/2006] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Deater-Deckard K, Petrill SA, Thompson LA. Anger/frustration, task persistence, and conduct problems in childhood: a behavioral genetic analysis. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 2007; 48:80-7. [PMID: 17244273 PMCID: PMC2659560 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01653.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individual differences in conduct problems arise in part from proneness to anger/frustration and poor self-regulation of behavior. However, the genetic and environmental etiology of these connections is not known. METHOD Using a twin design, we examined genetic and environmental covariation underlying the well-documented correlations between anger/frustration, poor attention regulation (i.e., task persistence), and conduct problems in childhood. Participants included 105 pairs of MZ twins and 154 pairs of same-sex DZ twins (4-8 year olds). Independent observers rated child persistence and affect based on behavior during a challenging in-home cognitive and literacy assessment. Teachers and parents provided reports of conduct problems. RESULTS Persistence, anger/frustration, and conduct problems included moderate heritable and nonshared environmental variance; conduct problems included moderate shared environmental variance as well. Persistence and anger/frustration had independent genetic covariance with conduct problems and nonshared environmental covariance with each other. CONCLUSIONS The findings indicate genetically distinct though inter-related influences linking affective and self-regulatory aspects of temperament with behavior problems in childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirby Deater-Deckard
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
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Deater-Deckard K, Petrill SA, Thompson LA, DeThorne LS. A longitudinal behavioral genetic analysis of task persistence. Dev Sci 2006; 9:498-504. [PMID: 16911452 PMCID: PMC2648051 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7687.2006.00517.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Change in task persistence was assessed in two annual assessments using teachers', testers', and observers' ratings. Participants included 79 monozygotic and 116 same-sex dizygotic twin pairs who were in Kindergarten or 1st grade (4.3 to 7.9 years old) at the initial assessment. Task persistence was widely distributed and higher among older children and girls. Overall, there was modest growth in persistence over time, and moderate stability of individual differences. Most of the stability was accounted for by genetic influences, whereas most of the change was accounted for by nonshared environment, including an association with observed differential maternal warm supportive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirby Deater-Deckard
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, VA 24061, USA.
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Lundberg I, Sterner G. Reading, arithmetic, and task orientation--how are they related? ANNALS OF DYSLEXIA 2006; 56:361-77. [PMID: 17849205 DOI: 10.1007/s11881-006-0016-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2006] [Accepted: 09/11/2006] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
A sample of 60 children in Grade 3 was followed over one year. In the first year, an extensive battery of assessments was used including aspects of reading, arithmetic, and working memory. Teachers rated the children on 7-point scales on various motivational dimensions summarized to a total score tentatively called task orientation. In the follow-up assessment one year later, the testing and teacher ratings were repeated. The cross-sectional correlations between reading, arithmetic, and task orientation were all high (about +.70). The high correlation between reading and arithmetic decreased significantly when task orientation was partialed out, and it was further reduced when working memory as assessed by backward digit span was added to the controlling factors. Also, teacher ratings of cognitive ability and language development accounted for some of the common variance between reading and arithmetic. The correlation between task orientation and school achievement cannot be causally interpreted in cross-sectional designs. Some support for a "causal" hypothesis, however, was obtained in crosslagged correlation analyses indicating that task orientation in Grade 3 may have a causal impact on the level of performance in reading, and in arithmetic in Grade 4. Most likely, however, there is also a reciprocal relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingvar Lundberg
- Department of Psychology, Göteborg University, Box 500, SE-405, 30 Göteborg, Sweden.
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McCartney K, Berry D. Gene–environment processes in task persistence. Trends Cogn Sci 2005; 9:407-8. [PMID: 16095950 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2005.07.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2005] [Revised: 06/06/2005] [Accepted: 07/26/2005] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Task persistence is a construct that appears to have broad influence on child competence generally, from self regulation in carrying out tasks, to cognitive performance. In a recent developmental study of task persistence, Deater-Deckard and colleagues report that heritability of task persistence increased over time, whereas the contribution from the shared environment decreased during the transition from early to middle childhood. Two explanations for the developmental shift are discussed here: a choice hypothesis and a schooling hypothesis. An important next step lies in documenting gene-environment processes directly via hybrid research models, combining work in molecular biology with longitudinal observations of behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathleen McCartney
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
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