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Deviant Peer Affiliation and Problem Behavior: A Test of Genetic and Environmental Influences

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This study uses a multitrait, multimethod (MTMM) approach to investigate the genetic and environmental etiologies of childhood deviant peer affiliation (DPA) and problem behavior (PROB). The variability of genetic and environmental estimates by agent and method is also examined. A total of 77 monozygotic and 72 dizygotic twin pairs and each twin's close friend were assessed. The informants included parents, teachers, and twins, and the methods involved questionnaire reports and coder ratings of videotaped dyadic interactions between each twin and their close friend. Twin intraclass correlations and univariate models attributed DPA and PROB to genetic, and shared and nonshared environmental effects. Parameter estimates differed by rater and method, however. Results accentuate the imperative to attend to method effects inherent in MTMM behavioral geneticresearch.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This project is based on the doctoral dissertation of the first author and was supported by Grant P50 MH 46690, National Institutes on Mental Health and Office of Research on Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health, to John B. Reid, and by Grant R03 MH 57053, National Institutes on Mental Health at the National Institutes of Health, to Leslie D. Leve. The authors extend their appreciation to Margaret Grace Cooper and Beverly Fagot, to whom this work is dedicated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Child and Family Center, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA

    Bernadette Marie Bullock PhD

  2. Department of Psychology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

    Kirby Deater-Deckard

  3. Oregon Social Learning Center, Eugene, Oregon, USA

    Leslie D. Leve

  4. Child and Family Center, University of Oregon, 195 West 12th Avenue, Eugene, Oregon, 97401-3408, U.S.A

    Bernadette Marie Bullock PhD

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  1. Bernadette Marie Bullock PhD
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  2. Kirby Deater-Deckard
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Correspondence to Bernadette Marie Bullock PhD.

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Bullock, B.M., Deater-Deckard, K. & Leve, L.D. Deviant Peer Affiliation and Problem Behavior: A Test of Genetic and Environmental Influences. J Abnorm Child Psychol 34, 27–39 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-9004-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-005-9004-9

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