Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Correcting Estimates of Shared Environmental Variance for Range Restriction in Adoption Studies Using a Truncated Multivariate Normal Model

  • Published:
Behavior Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A model is presented for the truncated trivariate normal distribution that arises in behavior genetic adoption designs that focus on sibling similarity to estimate shared environmental effects. The model estimates the point of truncation and shared environmentality. Both moment and maximum likelihood estimates are obtained numerically. Simulations indicate that the model and the numerical procedures perform well when they are most needed, that is, when shared environmentality is large, truncation is extensive or both. When applied to published data from the Texas Adoption Project, results indicate that the point of truncation is at about the 63rd percentile of the family environmental quality distribution (i.e., the bottom 63% is missing) and shared environmentality is about 55%. Implications for current views on the importance of shared environment for child developmental outcomes such as antisocial behavior and IQ are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Aitken, A. C. (1934). Note on selection from a multivariate normal population. Proc. Edinburg Math. Soc. B 4:106-110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, B. C., Beaver, R. J., Groenveld, R. A., and Meeker, W. Q. (1993). The nontruncated marginal of a truncated bivariate normal distribution. Psychometrika 58:471-488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. (1993). The average expectable environment is not good enough: A response to Scarr. Child Dev. 64:1299-1317.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J., Yates, W. R., Troughton, E., Woodworth, G., and Stewart, M. A. (1995). Genetic-environmental interaction in the genesis of aggressivity and conduct disorders. Arch. General Psychiatry 52:916-924.

    Google Scholar 

  • Capaldi, D. M., and Patterson, G. R. (1991). Relation of parental transitions to boys' adjustment problems: I. A Linear hypothesis. II. Mothers at risk for transitions and unskilled parenting. Dev. Psychol. 27:489-504.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carey, G. (1986). A general multivariate approach to linear modeling in human genetics. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 39:775-786.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, A. C. (1991). Truncated and Censored Samples: Theory and Applications, Marcel Dekker, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deater-Deckard, K., and Dodge, K. A. (1997). Externalizing behavior problems and discipline revisited: Nonlinear effects and variation by culture, context, and gender. Psychol. Inquiry 8:161-175.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeFries, J. C., Plomin, R., and Fulker, D. (1994). Nature, Narture During Middle Childhood, Blackwell, Cambridge, MA. Eaves, L. J. (1988). Dominance alone is not enough. Behav. Genet. 18:27–33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grayson, D. A. (1989). Twins reared together: Minimizing shared environmental effects. Behav. Genet. 19:593-604.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, B., and Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experiences of Young American Children, Paul H. Brooks, Baltimore, MD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horn, J. M., Loehlin, J. C., and Willerman, L. (1979). Intellectual resemblance among adoptive and biological relatives: The Texas adoptive project. Behav. Genet. 9:177-201.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykken, D. T. (1995). The Antisocial Personalities, Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykken, D. T., Tellegen, A., and DeRubeis, R. (1978). Volunteer bias in twin research: The rule of two-thirds. Soc. Biol. 25(1):1-9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykken, D. T., McGue, M., and Tellegen, A. (1987). Recruitment bias in twin research: The rule of two-thirds reconsidered. Behav. Genet. 17(4):343-362.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, N. G., and Wilson, S. R. (1982). Bias in the estimation of heritability from truncated samples of twins. Behav. Genet. 12(4):467-472.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles, D. R., and Carey, G. (1997). Genetic and environmental architecture of human aggression. J. Person. Soc. Psychol. 72:207-217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neale, M. C., Eaves, L. J., Kendler, K. S., and Hewitt, J. K. (1989). Bias in correlations from selected samples of relatives: The effects of soft selection. Behav. Genet. 19(2):163-169.

    Google Scholar 

  • Neale, M. C., and Cardon, L. R. (1992). Methodology for Genetic Studies of Twins and Families, Kluwer Academic, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plomin, R., and DeFries, J. C. (1985). Origins of Individual Differences in Infancy, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plomin, R., Chipuer, H. M., and Neiderhiser, J. M. (1994a). Behavioral genetic evidence for the importance of nonshared environment. In Hetherington, E. M., Reiss, D., and Plomin, R. (eds.), Separate Social Worlds of Siblings: The Impact of Nonshared Environment on Development, Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 1-31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plomin, R., Reiss, D., Hetherington, E. M., and Howe, G. W. (1994b). Nature and nurture: Genetic contributions to measures of the family environment. Dev. Psychol. 30:32-43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, D. C. (1994). The Limits of Family Influence: Genes, Experience, and Behavior, Guilford Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe, D. C. (1997). Are parents to blame? A look at The Antisocial Personalities. Psychol. Inquiry 8:251-260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarr-Salapatek, S. (1971). Race, social class, and IQ. Science 174:1285-1295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarr, S. (1992). Developmental theories for the 1990s: Development and individual differences. Child Dev. 63:1-19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scarr, S., and Weinberg, R. A. (1978). The influence of “family background” on intellectual attainment. Am. Sociol. Rev. 43(Oct.):674-692.

  • Statistical Sciences (1995). S-Plus Guide to Statistical and Mathematical Analysis, Version 3.3, StatSci, Seattle, WA.

  • Stoolmiller, M. (1997). Implications of the restricted range of family environments for estimates of heritability and nonshared environment in behavior genetic adoption studies (submitted).

  • Stoolmiller, M., Patterson, G. R., and Snyder, J. (1997). Parental discipline and child antisocial behavior: A contingency-based theory and some methodological refinements. Psychol. Inquiry 8:223-229.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tanner, M. A. (1993). Tools for Statistical Inference: Methods for the Exploration of Posterior Distributions and Likelihood Functions, Springer-Verlag, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, R. S. (1983). The Louisville twin study: Developmental synchronies in behavior. Child Dev. 54:298-316.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oregon Social Learning Center, 207 East 5th Avenue, Surte 202, Eugene, Oregon, 97401

    Mike Stoolmiller

Authors
  1. Mike Stoolmiller
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stoolmiller, M. Correcting Estimates of Shared Environmental Variance for Range Restriction in Adoption Studies Using a Truncated Multivariate Normal Model. Behav Genet 28, 429–441 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021685211674

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021685211674

Search

Navigation