Temperament in middle childhood: A behavioral genetic analysis of fathers’ and mothers’ reports

The genetic and environmental sources of variance in mothers’ and fathers’ ratings of child temperament in middle childhood were estimated and compared. Parents of 88 MZ twin pairs and 109 same-sex DZ twin pairs completed a temperament questionnaire. For Effortful Control, significant genetic and environmental effects were indicated across mothers’ and fathers’ ratings, but parent differences were found for the Negative Affectivity factor. When present, sibling contrast effects were not consistent for mothers and fathers. Parental ratings of the Effortful Control factor were best explained by the Biometric model whereas the Negative Affectivity factor was best explained by the Rater Bias model. Overall, mothers’ and fathers’ ratings yielded similar evidence of genetic and environmental etiology of temperament in middle childhood.