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Temperament and peer problems from early to middle childhood: Gene–environment correlations with negative emotionality and sociability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2015

Liat Hasenfratz ,
Maya Benish-Weisman ,
Tami Steinberg  and
Ariel Knafo-Noam
Liat Hasenfratz*
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Maya Benish-Weisman
Affiliation:
University of Haifa
Tami Steinberg
Affiliation:
Tel Aviv University
Ariel Knafo-Noam*
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Liat Hasenfratz or Ariel Knafo, Psychology Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel; E-mail: liathas@gmail.com or ariel.knafo@huji.ac.il.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Liat Hasenfratz or Ariel Knafo, Psychology Department, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel; E-mail: liathas@gmail.com or ariel.knafo@huji.ac.il.
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Abstract

Based in a transactional framework in which children's own characteristics and the social environment influence each other to produce individual differences in social adjustment, we investigated relationships between children's peer problems and their temperamental characteristics, using a longitudinal and genetically informed study of 939 pairs of Israeli twins followed from early to middle childhood (ages 3, 5, and 6.5). Peer problems were moderately stable within children over time, such that children who appeared to have more peer problems at age 3 tended to have also more peer problems at age 6.5. Children's temperament accounted for 10%–22% of the variance in their peer problems measured at the same age and for 2%–7% of the variance longitudinally. It is important that genetic factors accounted for the association between temperament and peer problems and were in line with a gene–environment correlation process, providing support for the proposal that biologically predisposed characteristics, particularly negative emotionality and sociability, have an influence on children's early experiences of peer problems. The results highlight the need for early and continuous interventions that are specifically tailored to address the interpersonal difficulties of children with particular temperamental profiles.

Type
Special Section Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 27 , Issue 4pt1 , November 2015 , pp. 1089 - 1109
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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