Maternal Expressed Emotion Predicts Children's Antisocial Behavior Problems: Using Monozygotic-Twin Differences to Identify Environmental Effects on Behavioral Development.

TLDR

Maternal expressed emotion is considered an environmental risk factor for children’s antisocial behavior, expected to explain sibling differences even after controlling for genetic influences. The study used the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, interviewing mothers of 565 monozygotic twin pairs to identify which twin received more negative emotion and warmth, and conducted qualitative interviews to generate hypotheses about differential maternal treatment. Within monozygotic twin pairs, the twin exposed to greater maternal negativity and less warmth exhibited more antisocial behavior problems, indicating that maternal emotional attitudes may causally influence antisocial development.

Abstract

If maternal expressed emotion is an environmental risk factor for children's antisocial behavior problems, it should account for behavioral differences between siblings growing up in the same family even after genetic influences on children's behavior problems are taken into account. This hypothesis was tested in the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study with a nationally representative 1994-1995 birth cohort of twins. The authors interviewed the mothers of 565 five-year-old monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs and established which twin in each family received more negative emotional expression and which twin received more warmth. Within MZ pairs, the twin receiving more maternal negativity and less warmth had more antisocial behavior problems. Qualitative interviews were used to generate hypotheses about why mothers treat their children differently. The results suggest that maternal emotional attitudes toward children may play a causal role in the development of antisocial behavior and illustrate how genetically informative research can inform tests of socialization hypotheses.