Contribution of genetics and early cognitive and emotional development to behaviour problems in middle childhood

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There are many possible causes of behaviour problems in school-age children. Looking at which aspects of the child‘s life are associated with behaviour problems at a specific time, such as the family and school environment, are useful for understanding some of the reasons for a child‘s behaviour. However, in order to truly understand some of the causes of behaviour problems we need to have a detailed idea about the genetic and environmental contributions to the child‘s behaviour. Furthermore, by following the same children over time we can find events and characteristics early in the child‘s life that lead to later problems. Once the gene-environment contribution has been established and the early circumstances leading to later problems have been identified, we can use this information to identify, at a young age, children who are likely to experience behaviour problems and to improve their lives. The research proposed here is an attempt to combine the scientific fields of developmental psychology, genetics and brain science in order to obtain this goal.