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The Environments of Adopted and Non-adopted Youth: Evidence on Range Restriction From the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS)

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Abstract

Previous reviews of the literature have suggested that shared environmental effects may be underestimated in adoption studies because adopted individuals are exposed to a restricted range of family environments. A sample of 409 adoptive and 208 non-adoptive families from the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS) was used to identify the environmental dimensions on which adoptive families show greatest restriction and to determine the effect of this restriction on estimates of the adoptive sibling correlation. Relative to non-adoptive families, adoptive families experienced a 41% reduction of variance in parent disinhibitory psychopathology and an 18% reduction of variance in socioeconomic status (SES). There was limited evidence for range restriction in exposure to bad peer models, parent depression, or family climate. However, restriction in range in parent disinhibitory psychopathology and family SES had no effect on adoptive-sibling correlations for delinquency, drug use, and IQ. These data support the use of adoption studies to obtain direct estimates of the importance of shared environmental effects on psychological development.

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Acknowledgments

Supported in part by USPHS Grants # AA11886 and MH066140.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Rd., Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Matt McGue, Margaret Keyes, Irene Elkins, Lisa Legrand, Wendy Johnson & William G. Iacono

  2. Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark

    Matt McGue

  3. Minnesota Institute of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Anu Sharma

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  1. Matt McGue
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  2. Margaret Keyes
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  3. Anu Sharma
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  4. Irene Elkins
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  5. Lisa Legrand
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  6. Wendy Johnson
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  7. William G. Iacono
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Correspondence to Matt McGue.

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Edited by Irwin Waldman

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McGue, M., Keyes, M., Sharma, A. et al. The Environments of Adopted and Non-adopted Youth: Evidence on Range Restriction From the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS). Behav Genet 37, 449–462 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-007-9142-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-007-9142-7

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