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Genetic and Shared Environmental Influences on Adolescents’ Timing of First Sexual Intercourse: The Moderating Effect of Time Spent with a Sibling

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The Biodemography of Human Reproduction and Fertility

Abstract

We present a behavioral genetic study that examines whether time spent with a sibling moderates the strength of genetic and environmental influences on the timing of first intercourse. Brothers, sisters, and brother-sister pairs (N=1,421 pairs) of five degrees of genetic relatedness, consisting of identical twins, fraternal twins, full-siblings, half-siblings, and unrelated siblings, were identified in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). According to DeFries-Fulker regression analyses, the heritability of timing in the full sample was .14, .49, and .24 for sisters, brothers, and girl/boy siblings, respectively. The shared environmental effects ranged from .03 to .15. However, the degree of contact with siblings moderated the genetic and shared environmental influences . For sisters and brothers heritability was greater and shared environmental effects were weaker in those sibling pairs with little social contact ; conversely, in those sibling pairs with a high degree of social contact, heritability became negligible and shared environmental effects became stronger (.47 and .43 in high contact sisters and brothers, respectively) . Same-sex siblings in mutual contact appear to have a social influence on one another that diminishes the effect of genes on the timing of sexual intercourse onset.

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Authors
  1. Cathleen B. Hunt
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  2. David C. Rowe
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oklahoma Norman, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

    Joseph Lee Rodgers

  2. Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany

    Hans-Peter Kohler

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Hunt, C.B., Rowe, D.C. (2003). Genetic and Shared Environmental Influences on Adolescents’ Timing of First Sexual Intercourse: The Moderating Effect of Time Spent with a Sibling. In: Rodgers, J.L., Kohler, HP. (eds) The Biodemography of Human Reproduction and Fertility. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1137-3_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1137-3_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5410-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1137-3

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