Project IV: Reading and Math Co-Development in a Diverse Sample of Twins

摘要 项目4 阅读和数学问题对儿童来说是一个重要的公共卫生问题，因为它们是相互关联的 有各种负面后果，包括学业失败、有限的职业成功和青少年犯罪 (Geary等人，2012年；雷诺兹等人，2002年)。在美国四年级学生中，四分之一甚至达不到部分 在阅读中掌握年级水平的知识，五分之一的人没有达到部分年级水平 数学知识(NCES，2015)，突出了儿童时期普遍存在的阅读和数学困难。 鉴于我们知道，在阅读方面有困难的孩子通常也会在数学方面有困难，因此认识到 对阅读和数学的发展都有影响。拟议研究的总体目标是 发现显著的因素，包括遗传和环境影响，这些因素有助于共同 发展阅读和数学表现，处于关键发展点(小学)。我们会 通过拟议的国家项目确定第一个具有全国代表性的美国双胞胎样本 双胞胎成绩(NatPAT)。NatPAT样本将包括分布在美国各地的7668对双胞胎， 并将处于独特的位置，通过四个具体目标来解决拟议研究的总体目标 (Sa)。首先，我们将利用全国各地学校的阅读和数学表现的大型数据库 以确定NatPAT双胞胎样本。使用从幼儿园开始的队列序贯设计，我们将 检查整个小学的阅读和数学表现，以便建立遗传和数学模型 环境对阅读和数学(共同)发展的影响(具体目标1)。第二，我们将为 基因和环境对阅读和数学困难并存的影响，同时测试 性别差异(具体目标2)。第三，我们将利用公开的数据来描述 与(共同)发展阅读和数学成绩有关的环境背景(具体目标3)。 最后，我们将捕捉重要的态度个体差异维度，并检查它们是如何 与(共同)发展阅读和数学成绩有关(具体目标4)。

ABSTRACT Project 4 Reading and math problems represent an important public health issue for children in that they are associated with various negative outcomes including school failure, limited occupational success, and juvenile delinquency (Geary et al., 2012; Reynolds et al., 2002). Of US fourth-grade students, one-fourth fail to reach even partial mastery of grade-level knowledge in reading, and one-fifth fail to reach partial mastery of grade-level knowledge in math (NCES, 2015), highlighting the prevalence of reading and math difficulties in childhood. Given we know that children who struggle in reading often also struggle in math, it is important to identify influences on the development of both reading and math. The overall goal of the proposed research is to uncover salient factors, including genetic and environmental influences, which contribute to the co- development of reading and math performance, at a critical developmental point (elementary school). We will identify the first nationally-representative US twin sample through the proposed National Project on Achievement in Twins (NatPAT). The NatPAT sample will comprise 7,668 pairs of twins located across the US, and will be uniquely situated to address the overall goal of the proposed research through four specific aims (SA). First, we will utilize a large national database of reading and math performance from schools across the country to ascertain the NatPAT twin sample. Using a cohort-sequential design starting in kindergarten, we will examine reading and math performance across elementary school in order to model genetic and environmental influences on reading and math (co-)development (Specific Aim 1). Second, we will model the genetic and environmental influences on the co-occurrence of reading and math difficulties, while also testing for sex differences (Specific Aim 2). Third, we will capitalize on publically available data to characterize the environmental contexts related to the (co-)development of reading and math performance (Specific Aim 3). Finally, we will capture important attitudinal individual differences dimensions and examine how they are associated with the (co-)development of reading and math performance (Specific Aim 4).