Special section on personality development: Testing environmental and genetic associations across generations.

Genetic and environmental factors account for variability in a range of developmental outcomes, including socioeconomic status (SES). The challenge is to find ways to incorporate genetic information based on studies using biologically related family members (i.e., studies not involving twins). To address this issue, we computed polygenic scores associated with educational attainment (Lee et al., 2018) for the Family Transitions Project (e.g., R. D. Conger & Conger, 2002) and incorporated them into the model tested by R. D. Conger, Martin, and Masarik, (2021). Polygenic scores correlated with observed educational attainment for all relevant members of the Family Transitions Project. Moreover, polygenic scores were correlated with many of the other constructs in the R. D. Conger et al. (2021) model, pointing to the relevance of genetic factors for process models of SES attainment. At the same time, the primary pathways described by R. D. Conger et al. (2021) remained viable when polygenic scores were included in the analyses, suggesting that the environmental pathways predicted by the interactionist model (e.g., R. D. Conger, Conger, & Martin, 2010) are still tenable. The current study thereby illustrates how genetic information can be included in tests of developmental models to clarify SES attainment across generations.

“…The data used in this report were drawn from the FTP, which is described in the introductory article for this special section (see K. J. Conger, Neppl, & Scaramella, 2021).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic influences on the interactionist model of socioeconomic development: Incorporating polygenic scores for educational attainment into developmental research using the Family Transitions Project (FTP).

Donnellan¹,

Martin²,

Senia³

2021

“…In response to the need for additional research on these issues, the present study investigates proposed origins and socioeconomic consequences of conscientiousness using data from a long-term study of adolescents and their families, the Family Transitions Project (FTP; see Conger, Neppl, & Scaramella, 2021, in this issue). The cohort of adolescents in the FTP (the target or focal participants) have been followed for over 20 years, and many of them now have families and children of their own.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic associations among socioeconomic status (SES), parenting investments, and conscientiousness across time and generations.

Conger¹,

Martin²,

Masarik³

2021

Building on recommendations from several of the articles in the special section on conscientiousness in the June 2014 issue of Developmental Psychology, the present study tested predictions from the interactionist model (IM) of socioeconomic influences on individual development. In an approach consistent with the idea of cumulative advantage, the model proposed that adolescent and child conscientiousness would be fostered by higher family socioeconomic status (SES) and the parenting and material investments that SES promotes. The IM also predicted a transactional process in which adolescent conscientiousness would promote future socioeconomic success which, in turn, would foster greater adult conscientiousness. Analyses with a cohort of 347 adolescents followed for over 20 years were largely consistent with these predictions, although the findings suggested some modifications to the IM, including the addition of a stronger direct role for family processes in eventual social and economic outcomes. Moreover, additional analyses with 282 of the children of these cohort members demonstrated that this same process was partially replicated in the next generation of children. The findings suggest reciprocal or transactional influences that promote conscientiousness and accumulating personal, economic, and social advantages over time and generations.

“…Data for the present study come from the Family Transitions Project (FTP), a longitudinal study of youth and their three-generation families from rural Iowa (see K. J. Conger, Neppl, & Scaramella, 2021 for additional details).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An examination of genetic and environmental factors related to negative personality traits, educational attainment, and economic success.

Stallings¹,

Neppl²

2021

Self Cite

Personality variables are associated with educational attainment and socioeconomic outcomes. In this study we incorporated a polygenic score derived from the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment to date (Lee et al., 2018) into the Interactionist Model of R. D. Conger, Martin, and Masarik (2021) that describes the influence of socioeconomic factors on individual development. The inclusion of a polygenic score predictive of educational attainment (PS-Edu) into this model, and the use of the multigeneration, longitudinal Family Transitions Project (FTP) provide a unique opportunity to investigate genetic and environmental influences on the development of negative personality traits and educational and economic outcomes. The FTP is a three-generation sample. This study utilized data from the first generation (G1; mean age 40 at initiation of the FTP) and second generation (G2; assessed at mean ages 18 and 30). Participants are approximately 50% female, 99% of European ancestry, primarily from lower to middle class SES. PS-Edu was significantly correlated with educational attainment in both generations of the FTP, accounting for 4.1 to 6.7% of the variance. Findings confirm that PS-Edu is a complex genetic index that is correlated with all of the socioeconomic constructs in the model. Results suggest potential gene-environment correlation or common genetic influences underlie associations among parenting investments, negative personality traits, and educational attainment. Genetic variance captured by PS-Edu was mediated substantially through G1 parental investments. Although study limitations warrant cautious interpretation, we demonstrate the promise of including polygenic scores in developmental models to better understand genetic and environmental influences on human development.