The Early Growth and Development Study

描述（由申请人提供）：我们建议详细研究遗传因素和亲子关系结合起来影响幼儿过渡时期儿童发展的机制。我们关注导致内化问题，外化问题和依恋安全/社会能力的发展途径。目前的研究表明，这些途径中的每一个都可能有可分离的遗传和父母的影响，但现在还不知道这两种发展途径是如何随着时间的推移而结合在一起的。我们提出了一种设计，将有助于首先分离这两组重要的影响。然后，我们将在孩子从9个月到24个月的发育过程中研究它们结合的机制。我们将努力集中在三个目标上：1)阐明幼儿时期三种发展路径的可分离性；2)评估父母教养作为遗传影响的中介对这些途径的影响，诱发性的遗传- e相关；3)评估父母特征和父母教养作为遗传影响对儿童行为表达的调节，遗传- e相互作用。我们的前瞻性收养设计非常适合发展研究中的这一重要步骤，将研究400个“负”家庭单位，每个家庭包括生母和生父，以及养母、养父和养子。我们将评估生父母和养父母的一系列智力和社会能力，以及与幼儿内化和外化有关的精神病理学。我们评估儿童的发展社会能力，以及内化和外化问题的早期表现，并使用最先进的母子和父子关系评估。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to examine in detail the mechanisms by which genetic factors and parent-child relationships combine to influence the development of children across the toddler transition. We focus on the developmental pathways leading to internalizing problems, to externalizing problems and to attachment security/social competence. Current research indicates that each of these pathways may have separable genetic and parental influences but nothing is known now about how these two routes of development combine over time. We propose a design that will help first to separate these two sets of important influences. We will then examine the mechanisms by which they combine as the child develops from 9 until 24 months. We focus our efforts on three objectives: 1) clarification of the separability of the three developmental paths in very early childhood; 2) assessment of parenting as mediator of genetic influence on each of these pathways, evocative G.E correlation and 3) appraisal of parental characteristics and parenting as moderators of the expression of genetic influence on child behavior, GxE interaction. Our prospective adoption design, which is ideally suited for this important step in developmental studies, will study 400 "yoked" family units each of which contains a birth mother and birth father as well as an adoptive mother and father and the adopted child. We will assess birth and adoptive parents for a range intellectual and social competence as well as psychopathology that has been associated with internalizing and externalizing in young children. We assess the child's developing social competence as well as early manifestations of internalizing and externalizing problems and use state of the art assessments of mother-child and father-child relationships.