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The Cross-Generational Mother–Daughter–Aunt–Niece Design: Establishing Validity of the MDAN Design with NLSY Fertility Variables

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Abstract

Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) fertility variables, we introduce and illustrate a new genetically-informative design. First, we develop a kinship linking algorithm, using the NLSY79 and the NLSY-Children data to link mothers to daughters and aunts to nieces. Then we construct mother–daughter correlations to compare to aunt–niece correlations, an MDAN design, within the context of the quantitative genetic model. The results of our empirical illustration, which uses DF Analysis and generalized estimation equations (GEE) to estimate biometrical parameters from NLSY79 sister–sister pairs and their children in the NLSY-Children dataset, provide both face validity and concurrent validity in support of the efficacy of the design. We describe extensions of the MDAN design. Compared to the typical within-generational design used in most behavior genetic research, the cross-generational feature of this design has certain advantages and interesting features. In particular, we note that the equal environment assumption of the traditional biometrical model shifts in the context of a cross-generational design. These shifts raise questions and provide motivation for future research using the MDAN and other cross-generational designs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Joseph Lee Rodgers

  2. University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, USA

    David E. Bard

  3. Portland State University, Portland, USA

    Amber Johnson

  4. University of Indiana, Bloomington, USA

    Brian D’Onofrio

  5. Transnational Family Research Institute, Bethesda, USA

    Warren B. Miller

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  1. Joseph Lee Rodgers
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  2. David E. Bard
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  3. Amber Johnson
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  4. Brian D’Onofrio
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  5. Warren B. Miller
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Correspondence to Joseph Lee Rodgers.

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Edited by Danielle Dick.

Appendix A: SAS Coding to estimate the DF Analysis model using GEE procedures to obtain sandwich standard errors

Appendix A: SAS Coding to estimate the DF Analysis model using GEE procedures to obtain sandwich standard errors

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Rodgers, J.L., Bard, D.E., Johnson, A. et al. The Cross-Generational Mother–Daughter–Aunt–Niece Design: Establishing Validity of the MDAN Design with NLSY Fertility Variables. Behav Genet 38, 567–578 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-008-9225-0

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