A longitudinal twin study of infant-caregiver attachment

Why Do We Care for Old Parents? Evolutionary Genetic Model of Elderly Caring

“…For example, there would be little doubt that some psychological traits, including attachment, empathy, and altruism between parents and offspring, more or less contribute to and play roles in caring for old parents. These psychological traits have in fact been suggested to have significant genetic components, based on twin studies [13] [14] [15] [16]. Thus elderly caring can be regarded as a quantitative trait, which is influenced by genetic as well as environmental factors, and the evolution of elderly caring would rather be investigated by using evolutionary genetic models.…”

Gene-Environment Interplay in Parenting Young Children

“…However, two studies using a modified version of the SS found genetic (Finkel et al 1998) and non-shared environmental mediation (Finkel and Matheny 2000). Unfortunately, these different results could not be replicated, as no other study employed this specific procedure.…”

“…Such findings are in contrast to those from an early quantitative review of parent-infant attachment data on twins (Ricciuti 1993), which found high concordance in both MZ and DZ pairs, suggesting little genetic mediation. Another report using archival data from a sample of 99 MZ pairs and 108 DZ pairs (mean age = 24 months) from the Finkel et al (1998) study found an MZ concordance for attachment of 62.6 %, significantly greater than the 44.4 % DZ concordance, with 25 % of the variability in attachment attributable to genetic factors, and the remaining 75 % attributable to nonshared environment (or measurement error; Finkel and Matheny 2000).…”

“…Similar to the SS, the LTS procedure implies having each twin experience two separations and two reunions with the mother. In a first study, videotapes of 34 MZ pairs and 26 DZ 18-24-month pairs at ages 18 and 24 months were rated using the LTS procedure (Finkel et al 1998). MZ concordance for attachment was 67.6 %, significantly greater than the DZ concordance of 38.5 %, thus suggesting significant heritability (Finkel et al 1998).…”

“…In a first study, videotapes of 34 MZ pairs and 26 DZ 18-24-month pairs at ages 18 and 24 months were rated using the LTS procedure (Finkel et al 1998). MZ concordance for attachment was 67.6 %, significantly greater than the DZ concordance of 38.5 %, thus suggesting significant heritability (Finkel et al 1998). Such findings are in contrast to those from an early quantitative review of parent-infant attachment data on twins (Ricciuti 1993), which found high concordance in both MZ and DZ pairs, suggesting little genetic mediation.…”