Leve et al

• AIM

  • Look at specific environmental issues related to parenting and family processes that interact with genetic factors on a child​, and how environment might moderate genetic influences​
  • Look at adoptive parent + child to see how, when, and why interactions between genes and environment occur
• Procedure Pt1

  • 360 linked sets of adoptive triads born between 2003-2006 recruited via an adoption agency on an opt out system​
  • Questionnaires + interviews given to birth + adoptive parents, and adopted were also observed, as well as standardised testing + DNA collection​
  • Done 8 times. In person 3-6 months, 18 months and 54 months, and by telephone at 12, 22, 30, 36 and 43 months
• Procedure Pt2

  • Questionnaires + interviews about intelligence, antisocial personality+conduct disorder, functioning​
  • Phone calls ab well-being, parenting + daily behaviour (build rapport)​
  • Children given temperament tasks, parent-child interaction tasks, and  literacy tests​
  • Salivary cortisol collected 3x a week​
  • Teachers did questionnaire online
• Findings

  • Externalising behaviour of birth mother shows genetic risk of externalising behaviour of child​
  • Anxiety/depression in adoptive parents could be associated with a child being unable to shift attention from a frustrating task/event​
  • More influenced from adoptive mothers emotional state than fathers (nurture)​
• Conclusion

  • Genetic factors in adopted child can interact with environmental influences within the adopted family to produce behaviour​
  • If necessary intervention can be provided to alleviate issues
• :) Large sample size

  360 adoptive triads of birth parents, adoptive parents and child twins. T/f sample is representative so findings that behaviour determined by interaction of nature+nurture can be generalised​
• :) range of methods used

  Collected data using questionaires, interviews and salivary cortisol 3x a week. T/f researchers used triangulation to increase reliablility of the data on behaviour being determined by interaction of nature + nurture​
• :( Informed Consent

  the study of...was formatted with an 'opt out' system, parents didn’t choose to be in study as adoptive agency signed them up + the opt out process was deliberately complicated to ensure...T/f unethical as informed consent was not established at the beginning of the study​
• :( Population Validity

  not all ppl are adopted, and not all adopted children have relationships with biological parents. T/f findings on...cant be generalised to a wider pop​