ADOLESCENT BEHAVIOR: FAMILY AND NON-FAMILY INFLUENCES

我们请求支持第四次延续先前资助的 持续10年以上的项目。拟议的工作涉及对 遗传和环境对生育结果和生育过程的影响 通向他们。该项目的动机来自于过去的工作 研究社会对青少年过渡行为的影响，包括 性行为和怀孕，吸烟，酗酒，犯罪，智力 发展，成就。最近，我们已经开始使用来自 发展心理学和行为遗传学使我们能够研究 遗传影响以及社会/环境影响 行为。 我们之前的工作使用了全国青年纵向调查 广泛使用；然而，NLSY不包含明确的信息 区分完全的、同父异母的和领养的兄弟姐妹。我们已经开发出一种 “链接算法”来定义这些亲属关系链接。此外，我们还有 使用了一种分析方法--自适应DF分析模型--将 变异为遗传、共享环境和非共享环境 影响。 我们最新的工作研究了遗传和环境对 第一次性交的年龄。目前的应用程序将该研究扩展到 一个很大的框架，考虑了月经初潮年龄，第一次性交年龄， 结婚年龄、首次怀孕年龄、首次生育年龄、 在这些不同的结果之间，以及一组 衡量生育意愿和期望的态度变量。这些 变量是在生命历程的帮助下定义和组织的 透视。 我们提出了四项分研究：在每项研究中，我们将：(A)确定 遗传影响作用于各种生育行为；(B)评估 共同的环境影响是否重要；(C)统计 测试几个特定的和精心选择的非共享的重要性 环境影响；(D)评估极端版本的 生育行为的病因与广义的 行为；(E)识别我们的模式中的种族和性别差异 发现。

We request support for a fourth continuation of a previously funded project lasting 10+ years. The proposed work involves a broad study of genetic and environmental influences on fertility outcomes and the process leading up to them. Motivation for the project derives from past work studying social influences on adolescent transition behaviors, including sexuality and pregnancy, smoking, drinking, delinquency, intellectual development, and achievement. Recently, we have begun to use models from developmental psychology and behavior genetics that allow us to study genetic influences along with social/environmental influences on behaviors. Our previous work has used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth extensively; however, the NLSY does not contain explicit information distinguishing full, half, and adoptive siblings. We have developed a "linking algorithm" to define these kinship links. In addition, we have used an analysis approach--an adaptive DF Analysis model--that partitions variance into genetic, shared environmental, and non-shared environmental influences. Our most recent work has studied genetic and environmental influences on age at first intercourse. The current application extends that study into a large framework and considers age at menarche, age at first intercourse, age at marriage, age at first pregnancy, age at first birth, age at subsequent births, lags between these various outcomes, and a set of attitudinal variables measuring fertility desires and expectations. These variables are defined and organized with the assistance of the Life Course Perspective. We propose four sub-studies: In each study we will: (a) identify whether genetic influences act on the various fertility behaviors; (b) evaluate whether shared environmental influences are important; (c) statistically test for the importance of several specific and well-chosen non-shared environmental influences; (d) evaluate whether extreme versions of fertility behavior have the same etiology as the broadly defined behaviors; (e) identify race and gender differences in the patterns we find.