A Longitudinal Investigation of the Associations Among Parenting, Deviant Peer Affiliation, and Externalizing Behaviors: A Monozygotic Twin Differences Design

Abstract

Non-shared parenting and deviant peer affiliation are linked to differences in externalizing behaviors between twins. However, few studies have examined these two non-shared environments simultaneously. The present study examined the transactional roles of differential parenting (i.e., warmth and hostility) and deviant peer affiliation on monozygotic (MZ) twin differences in externalizing behaviors using a two-wave longitudinal study of twins and their parents. The sample consisted of 520 pairs of MZ twins (46.5% males, 53.5% females), with a mean age of 13.86 years (SD = 2.10) at the T1 assessment, residing in Beijing, China. The association between non-shared hostility in parenting and adolescent externalizing behaviors was mainly explained by a child-driven effect whereby the twin with a higher level of externalizing behaviors than his or her co-twin was more likely to receive more hostility from the parents. Similarly, the relationship between deviant peer affiliation and adolescent externalizing behaviors supported the selection effect whereby the twin with a higher level of externalizing behaviors than his or her co-twin was more likely to affiliate with deviant peers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Links between friends’ physical aggression and adolescents’ physical aggression

“…However, when using the twins as singletons, a moderate effect of friends' physical aggression on changes in twins' physical aggression was found. These results are in line with other studies using the MZ-twin difference method, which also found no predictive effect of friends' antisocial behavior on participants' own antisocial behavior (Beaver, 2008;Burt et al, 2009;Hou et al, 2013). They are also in line with recent findings by TenEyck and Barnes (2015) showing that friends' deviance is correlated with participants' deviance before, but not after, controlling for genetic factors.…”

“…The lacking evidence of a selection effect in the present study may also be due to the fact that active selection is only starting by age 10 and not yet systematic as at later ages, as suggested by the Confluence model. Indeed, two other studies examined influence and selection effects in older adolescents with a cross-lagged design spanning a 2-or a 3-year interval while controlling for possible rGE through the use of the MZ-difference method (i.e., Burt et al, 2009;Hou et al, 2013). Participants in both studies were 14 years old on average at the beginning of the study.…”

“…All three studies controlled for continuity in participants' aggressive or antisocial behavior over time through the use of a longitudinal design. In addition, two studies (Burt et al, 2009;Hou et al, 2013) also controlled for continuity in friends' antisocial behavior by adopting a cross-lagged design over two data points. However, all three studies used twins' perceptions of their friends' deviance.…”

Differential parenting and risk for psychopathology: a monozygotic twin difference approach

“…It is possible that differential parenting may be elicited by differences in twins’ behavior influenced by the environment. For example, Hou and colleagues [17] found evidence for child-driven effects such that the twin displaying higher levels of externalizing behavior was more likely to elicit hostile parenting. However, we know these cannot be driven by genetic differences.…”

“…Negative parental discipline (e.g., smacking, shouting) has also been identified as a non-shared environmental risk factor for the development of conduct problems from childhood to early adolescence [16]. Similarly, differences in parental negativity are associated with MZ differences in anti-social behavior among adolescents [17]. Finally, twins who received less maternal warmth and more negativity during middle childhood showed more behavioral problems than their co-twins [18, 19].…”