Children's Social and Academic Competence: Integrating Genetically Informed and Prevention Research

项目摘要/摘要1 以家庭为基础的研究已经建立了一个基本的理解，即父母的做法有助于 入学准备（例如，儿童社会技能、学术能力）。1 -3这一证据已被用于发展 促进成功进入正规学校的预防方案。 专注于入学准备并不普遍有效。7，9 -12计划必须考虑到多种背景 塑造社交技能和学术能力发展的因素（例如，儿童特征， 亲子互动，同伴关系），并包括基因的影响是有效的。 知情设计有可能通过以下方式促进有效预防方案的发展： 提供关于两个国家儿童发育的不同遗传和环境影响的信息， 主要方式。第一种方法是考虑受遗传影响的儿童特征，这些特征已被证明是 14 -16社会技能，17学术能力，18亲子关系 关系，19，20和同伴关系21 -23-所有这些对入学准备都至关重要-都有已知的遗传影响。 第二种是通过解释基因影响的特征，这些特征被发现会引起 父母和同伴的反应，并影响孩子选择的同伴。24 -33本申请中的活动 将解开遗传和环境对儿童积极的父母和同伴关系的影响， 将这些发现应用于现有的预防计划。纵向前瞻性采用设计的分析 我将通过研究（1）积极的父母和同伴在多大程度上 关系是孩子、父母或同伴驱动的;（2）遗传对孩子特征的影响程度 影响积极的父母和同伴关系;（3）积极的关系如何影响后来的社会技能， 学术能力第一项研究的结果将被用来为第二项研究提出假设。 study.这种转化方法将使用现有的随机预防计划来测试儿童是否 特征和/或积极的关系（以前确定为遗传和/或环境 影响）作为社会技能和学术能力发展的变化机制。 先进的纵向分析策略，包括结构方程模型和编译器平均因果关系 将用于实现拟议目标。这项拟议研究的跨学科方法将 完善一个概念模型，整合遗传和环境对儿童特征的影响， 亲子关系，同伴关系，以及儿童的社会和学术发展。拟议工作 还将提供儿童发展、基因与环境相互作用、将研究结果转化为预防措施等方面的培训 科学和预防方法。因此，它将促进我的长期目标，即在发展中使用 敏感和遗传知情的框架，可以转化为预防科学，以阐明突出的 制定、调整和评估未来预防方案的机制。

Project Abstract/Summary1 Family-based research has established a foundational understanding that parenting practices facilitate school readiness (e.g., child social skills, academic competence).1–3 This evidence has been used to develop prevention programs that facilitate successful entry into formal schooling.4–8 However, prevention programs focused on school readiness are not universally effective.7,9–12 Programs must account for multiple contextual factors that shape the development of social skills and academic competence (e.g., child characteristics, parent–child interactions, peer relationships) and include genetic influences to be effective.13 Genetically informed designs have the potential to contribute to the development of effective prevention programs by providing information about the distinct genetic and environmental influences on child development in two majors ways. The first is by accounting for genetically influenced child characteristics that have been shown to moderate the effectiveness of prevention programs.14–16 Social skills,17 academic competence,18 parent–child relationships,19,20 and peer relationships21–23—all critical to school readiness—have known genetic influences. The second is by accounting for genetically influenced characteristics that have been found to evoke responses from parents and peers and influence the peers children select.24–33 The activities in this application will disentangle genetic and environmental influences on children’s positive parent and peer relationships and apply these findings to an existing prevention program. Analysis of a longitudinal prospective adoption design will clarify gene–environment interplay by examining (1) the extent to which positive parent and peer relationships are child, parent, or peer driven; (2) the extent to which genetic influences on child characteristics affect positive parent and peer relationships; and (3) how positive relationships affect later social skills and academic competence. Findings from the first study will then be used to formulate hypotheses for the second study. This translational approach will use an existing randomized prevention program to test whether child characteristics and/or positive relationships (previously identified as genetically and/or environmentally influenced) serve as mechanisms of change for the development of social skills and academic competence. Advanced longitudinal analytic strategies, including structural equation modeling and complier average causal effect, will be used to achieve the proposed aims. The interdisciplinary approach of this proposed study will refine a conceptual model that integrates genetic and environmental influences on child characteristics, parent–child relationships, peer relationships, and child social and academic development. The proposed work will also provide training in child development, gene–environment interplay, translation of findings to prevention science, and prevention methodology. As such, it will facilitate my long-term goal of using a developmentally sensitive and genetically informed framework that can be translated to prevention science to elucidate salient mechanisms to develop, adapt, and evaluate future prevention programs.