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Wait For It! A Twin Study of Inhibitory Control in Early Childhood

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Abstract

Inhibitory control (IC) is a dimension of child temperament that emerges in toddlerhood and involves the ability to regulate behavior in response to instructions or expectations. In general, children with low levels of IC have more cognitive and social difficulties, and higher levels of problem behaviors. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of research on the heritability of this important behavioral dimension. The present study used a twin design to examine the extent to which genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in IC. Laboratory and parent assessments of IC were conducted on 294 same-sex twin pairs (133 MZ, 161 DZ) at 24 months of age. Model-fitting analyses showed that genetic factors accounted for 38 and 58% of the variance in laboratory- and parent-rated IC, respectively. Multivariate genetic analyses also revealed that the covariance between observed and parent-assessed IC could be predominantly explained by common genetic influences.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a predoctoral National Research Service Award (National Institute of Mental Health #1 F31 MH076353-01) and an Elizabeth Munsterberg Koppitz Child Psychology Graduate Fellowship from the American Psychological Foundation (American Psychological Association) awarded to the first author. The Boston University Twin Project (BUTP) is supported by grant MH062375 from the National Institute of Mental Health. Special thanks to the students, staff, parents, and twins from the BUTP.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1202 West Johnson Street, Madison, WI, 53706-1611, USA

    Jeffrey R. Gagne

  2. Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Kimberly J. Saudino

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  1. Jeffrey R. Gagne
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Correspondence to Jeffrey R. Gagne.

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Gagne, J.R., Saudino, K.J. Wait For It! A Twin Study of Inhibitory Control in Early Childhood. Behav Genet 40, 327–337 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-009-9316-6

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