Genetic and environmental influences on a measure of infant attachment security

Twin Res. 2000 Dec;3(4):242-50. doi: 10.1375/136905200320565210.

Abstract

A twin study of infant attachment security at age 24 months was conducted on archival data for a sample of 99 MZ pairs and 108 DZ pairs from the Louisville Twin Study. MZ concordance for attachment was 62.6%, which was significantly greater than the DZ concordance of 44.4%. Concordances were transformed into polychoric correlations, and LISREL was used to conduct a quantitative genetic analysis of the data. Results indicated that 25% of the variability in attachment was attributable to genetic factors, and the remaining 75% was attributable to non-shared environmental effects. No evidence was found for a contribution from shared environmental influences to attachment security. Possible concerns about the validity of twin methodology are addressed and various interpretations of the results are presented.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Twin Study

MeSH terms

  • Anxiety, Separation / genetics
  • Anxiety, Separation / psychology
  • Child, Preschool
  • Environment*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Kentucky
  • Least-Squares Analysis
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Maternal Behavior
  • Models, Genetic
  • Mother-Child Relations*
  • Object Attachment*
  • Psychology, Child*
  • Research Design
  • Temperament
  • Twins, Dizygotic / genetics*
  • Twins, Dizygotic / psychology*
  • Twins, Monozygotic / genetics*
  • Twins, Monozygotic / psychology*
  • Videotape Recording