Title: Infant temperament in twins: Heritability, stability, and parents’ emotional experiences
Legend: We used Latent Profile Analyses to derive four profiles of infant temperament from 990 twins at 6 and 12 months of age using observed infant behavior. Parents reported on their own emotional experiences. Temperament profiles show evidence of stability and heritability, particularly for the inhibited group, and relate to parent emotion and stress in different ways for mothers and fathers. Results highlight the utility of a person-centered approach to temperament and developmental research.
Citation: Planalp, E. M. & Goldsmith, H. H. (2019). Observed profiles of infant temperament: Stability, heritability, and associations with parenting. Child Development. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13277.
Abstract: The Wisconsin Twin Project encompasses nearly 30 years of longitudinal research that spans infancy to early adulthood. The twin sample was recruited from statewide birth records for birth cohorts 1989-2004. We summarize early recruitment, assessment, retention and recently completed twin neuroimaging studies. In addition to the focal twins, longitudinal data were also collected from two parents and non-twin siblings. Our adolescent and young adult neuroimaging sample (N = 600) completed several previous behavioral and environmental assessments, beginning shortly after birth. The extensive phenotyping is meant to support a range of empirical investigations with potentially differing theoretical perspectives.
About the Lab: Goldsmith’s research concerns children’s emotional development, behavioral challenges, and the autism spectrum. The research incorporates perspectives of psychology, genetics, neuroscience, and developmental epidemiology. He is recognized as a leading theorist of human temperament and a key empirical contributor to the fields of developmental behavioral genetics and childhood psychopathology. Goldsmith is principal investigator on six external grants, an investigator in three centers, and a faculty member on three training grants. His highly collaborative research involves many UW faculty and colleagues at other institutions. Visit the Wisconsin Twin Research lab for more information.