by David Reiss (Author), David Reiss (Author), E. Mavis Hetherington (Contributor), Robert Plomin (Contributor), Jenae M. Neiderhiser (Contributor)
The Relationship Code is the report of a longitudinal study, conducted over a ten-year period, of the influence of family relationships and genetic factors on competence and psychopathology in adolescent development. The sample for this landmark study included 720 pairs of same-sex adolescent siblings-including twins, half siblings, and genetically unrelated siblings-and their parents. Using a clear expressive style, David Reiss and his coinvestigators identify specific mechanisms that link genetic factors and the social environment in psychological development. They propose a striking hypothesis: family relationships are crucial to the expression of genetic influences on a broad array of complex behaviors in adolescents. Moreover, this role of family relationships may be very specific: some genetic factors are linked to mother-child relationships, others to father-child relations, some to relationship warmth, while others are linked to relationship conflict or control. The specificity of these links suggests that family relationships may constitute a code for translating genetic influences into the ontogeny of behaviors, a code every bit as important for behavior as DNA-RNA.
Format: Illustrated
Pages: 560
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 30 May 2003
ISBN 10: 0674011260
ISBN 13: 9780674011267