Search Results

Author: Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Resulting in 85 citations.
1. Ang, Siew Ching
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Wänström, Linda
The Flynn Effect Within Subgroups in the U.S.: Gender, Race, Income, Education, and Urbanization Differences in the NLSY-Children Data
Intelligence 38,4 (July-August 2010): 367-384.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289610000504
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Ethnic Studies; Flynn Effect; Gender; Household Income; I.Q.; Mothers, Education; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Racial Studies; Urbanization/Urban Living

Although the Flynn Effect has been studied widely across cultural, geographic, and intellectual domains, and many explanatory theories have been proposed, little past research attention has been paid to subgroup differences. Rodgers and Wanstrom (2007) identified an aggregate-level Flynn Effect (FE) at each age between 5 and 13 in the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSYC) PIAT-Math data. FE patterns were not obtained for Reading Recognition, Reading Comprehension, or Digit Span, consistent with past FE research suggesting a closer relationship to fluid intelligence measures of problem solving and analytic reasoning than to crystallized measures of verbal comprehension and memory. These prior findings suggest that the NLSYC data can be used as a natural laboratory to study more subtle FE patterns within various demographic subgroups. We test for subgroup Flynn Effect differences by gender, race/ethnicity, maternal education, household income, and urbanization. No subgroups differences emerged for three demographic categories. However, children with more educated (especially college educated) mothers and/or children born into higher income households had an accelerated Flynn Effect in their PIAT-M scores compared to cohort peers with lower educated mothers or lower income households. We interpret both the positive and the null findings in relation to previous theoretical explanations. [Copyright Elsevier]
Bibliography Citation
Ang, Siew Ching, Joseph Lee Rodgers and Linda Wänström. "The Flynn Effect Within Subgroups in the U.S.: Gender, Race, Income, Education, and Urbanization Differences in the NLSY-Children Data." Intelligence 38,4 (July-August 2010): 367-384.
2. Bard, David E.
Hunter, Michael D.
Beasley, William H.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Meredith, Kelly M.
Biometric Nonlinear Growth Curves for Cognitive Development among NLSY Children and Youth
Presented: Marseille, France, Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) Annual Meeting, June-July 2013
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; Cognitive Development; Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Kinship; Modeling, Growth Curve/Latent Trajectory Analysis; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Recent advances in building and fitting growth curve and multi-level models that are biometrically informed (McArdle, 2006; McArdle & Plassman, 2009; McArdle & Prescott, 2005; McGue & Christensen, 2002; Reynolds, Finkel, Gatz, & Pedersen, 2002) were used to study cognitive development and decline (or slowed growth) in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth- Child/Young Adult (NLSYC/YA) dataset. Among the highest quality outcome data in the NLSY files are indicators of cognitive ability, collected longitudinally. These data includes PIAT-Math, PIAT-Reading Recognition and PIAT-Reading Comprehension scores in a complete longitudinal stream (up to attrition) from ages 5 to 14, as well as PPVT verbal abilities, Digit Span scores, and cognitive developmental milestone indicators during toddler and preschool years. Building off of longitudinal methodologies outside of behavior genetics (Grimm, Ram, & Hamagami, 2011; McArdle, Ferrer-Caja, Hamagami, & Woodcock, 2002; Pinheiro & Bates, 2000), this empirical application will also contribute to biometric analytic developments utilizing "fully" nonlinear (e.g., exponential; Davidian & Giltinan, 1995) growth models that better capture developmental and aging-related changes in cognition. Multivariate models were also examined to explore cognitive mediational hypotheses of whether early cognitive milestones could predict later developmental trajectories of PIAT, PPVT, and Digit Span growth. These models predicted both variation in level effects (early age ability level) and growth/decline effects over time (developmental changes in cognition). Motivation for these analyses closely coincide with the convergence of evidence surrounding critical periods of development between the ages of 0 and 5 (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). Again, interest will move beyond simple associations of early cognition and childhood cognitive development to questions of whether individual differences in genetic or environmental sources of variance best explain these associations via multivariate biometric mediation modeling.
Bibliography Citation
Bard, David E., Michael D. Hunter, William H. Beasley, Joseph Lee Rodgers and Kelly M. Meredith. "Biometric Nonlinear Growth Curves for Cognitive Development among NLSY Children and Youth." Presented: Marseille, France, Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) Annual Meeting, June-July 2013.
3. Bard, David E.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Sibling Influence on Smoking Behavior: A Within-Family Look at Explanations for a Birth-Order Effect
Journal of Applied Social Psychology 33,9 (September 2003): 1773-1795.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2003.tb02080.x/abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Birth Order; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Family Models; Family Studies; Siblings

Using a repeated-measures design, we found a significant birth-order relationship suggesting lower ages of smoking onset in later born siblings of a 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth cohort. Two social learning mechanisms, modeling and opportunity, were explored to help illuminate the causes of trends in the within-family means. When empirical patterns were compared to predictions derived from our specifications of how opportunity and modeling processes should work, the results were unsuccessful in explaining the birth-order effect. As a third explanation of the birth-order effect, telescoping did show a significant influence. The effect size was small, however, and had little effect on the group means assessed. Finally, a pattern did emerge that was consistent with a reformulation of the opportunity process in which sisters play a particularly strong role. We develop future research implications of this pattern and speculate on genetic and social conservatism explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Bibliography Citation
Bard, David E. and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Sibling Influence on Smoking Behavior: A Within-Family Look at Explanations for a Birth-Order Effect." Journal of Applied Social Psychology 33,9 (September 2003): 1773-1795.
4. Bard, David E.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Use of Discrete-time Survival Analysis for Modeling Multivariate ACE Models of Fertility Precursors from the Children of the NLSY
Presented: Storrs, CT, Behavior Genetics Association Annual Conference, 36th Annual, June 2006.
Also: http://www.bga.org//meetings/2006/Abstracts.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Age at Menarche/First Menstruation; Fertility; Genetics; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Substantial evidence now exists that variables measuring or correlated with fertility outcomes have a heritable component. In this study, we define a series of age-sequenced fertility precursors and fit a multivariate ACE model to responses from the children (now adolescents and young adults) born to mothers of the original National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) cohort. Three age-related precursors were considered: age at 1st menstruation, 1st dating experience, and 1st sexual intercourse. Univariate and multivariate models were in general agreement indicating strong heritability for each precursor, little to no shared environmental influences, and small to moderate nonshared influences. Genetic components in the MV model accounted for 47%, 71%, and 54% of the precursor variations, respectively. Methodologically, this study also explored the use of MV random effect discrete-time survival analyses of the precursor data. These models also incorporated an additional precursor (age at 1st marriage) and a fertility outcome (age at 1st childbirth). Results from these 5-variable discrete-time survival models are compared to biased effects from models that excluded censored cases.
Bibliography Citation
Bard, David E. and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Use of Discrete-time Survival Analysis for Modeling Multivariate ACE Models of Fertility Precursors from the Children of the NLSY." Presented: Storrs, CT, Behavior Genetics Association Annual Conference, 36th Annual, June 2006.
5. Beasley, William H.
Bard, David E.
Hunter, Michael D.
Meredith, Kelly M.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
NLSY Kinship Links: Creating Biometrical Design Structures from Cross-Generational Data
Presented: Marseille, France, Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) Annual Meeting, June-July 2013
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY97
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; Cognitive Development; Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Genetics; Kinship; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In this paper, we present innovative NLSY designs. We begin with a review of the Mother-Daughter-Aunt-Niece (MDAN) design (Rodgers et al. 2008) and expand this to include other relationships simultaneously, including the 5,000 NLSYC first cousins. Following we discuss the potential for limited three-generational designs using the available information about the parents of the original NLSY79 respondents. Finally, we discuss how incorporating a third dataset, (the NLSY97) provides a ‘"phantom mother’" design, developed by (age, SES, family, etc.) matching of the NLSYC to the NLSY97 respondents, and assigning NLSY79 mothers to NLSY97 respondents across these matches.
Bibliography Citation
Beasley, William H., David E. Bard, Michael D. Hunter, Kelly M. Meredith and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "NLSY Kinship Links: Creating Biometrical Design Structures from Cross-Generational Data." Presented: Marseille, France, Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) Annual Meeting, June-July 2013.
6. Buster, Maury Allen
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Alcohol Use: DF Analysis of NLSY Kinship Data
Journal of Biosocial Science 32,2 (April 2000): 177-189.
Also: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9937&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0021932000001772
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Keyword(s): Adoption; Alcohol Use; Family History; Gender Differences; Genetics; Kinship; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Pairs (also see Siblings); Racial Differences; Risk-Taking; Self-Esteem; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Research designs to study alcohol use and abuse have included twin, adoption and family history/high risk studies. Results have consistently implied a genetic factor in the aetiology of alcohol abuse. However, less research has been conducted in search of environmental factors. This study uses kinship structure in a large national dataset (the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth) to estimate (using DeFries-Fulker analysis) the extent of the shared genetic, non-shared genetic, shared environmental and non-shared environmental influences on alcohol use. The NLSY kinship sample contained 3890 pairs of cousins, half-siblings, full-siblings and twins between the ages of 14 and 21 in the initial year of the survey (1979). Estimates of heritability (h2) and shared environment (c2) were small to moderate for the entire dataset for both light drinking and heavy drinking behaviour, with h2 estimates slightly higher in each case. Non-shared genetic measures of self-esteem and locus of control accounted for a significant portion of the remaining variance in heavy drinking behaviour. Race and gender patterns showed c2 and h2 estimates that were also small to moderate for both light and heavy drinking behaviour. Significant non-shared effects were found for the White group for heavy drinking behaviour, and for male pairs for both heavy and light drinking behaviour. Additionally, implications and future directions are discussed.
Bibliography Citation
Buster, Maury Allen and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Genetic and Environmental Influences on Alcohol Use: DF Analysis of NLSY Kinship Data." Journal of Biosocial Science 32,2 (April 2000): 177-189.
7. D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Donahue, Kelly L
Coyne, Claire A.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Waldman, Irwin D.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Early Maternal Age at Childbearing and Offspring Functioning During Adolescence: A Sibling-Comparison Study of Sexual Behavior and Depression
Presented: Minneapolis MN, Behavior Genetics Association Annual Meeting, 2009
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Age at Birth; Age at First Intercourse; CESD (Depression Scale); Depression (see also CESD); Sexual Activity; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Offspring born to younger mothers are at increased risk for problems during adolescence across a range of domains. Previous research suggests that the mechanisms responsible for the associations between offspring adjustment and early maternal age at childbearing (MAC) are dependent on the outcomes being explored. The current study used statistical covariates and the comparison of siblings differentially exposed to MAC to account for alternative explanations for the statistical relations with risky sexual behavior and depression during adolescence. The study included 6,056 offspring (ages 14–21) born to a nationally representative sample of women in the US from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and children of the NLSY studies. MAC in the sample ranged from 13- to 34-year-old (M = 23.2). Each increasing year of maternal childbearing was associated with a 14% reduction (OR = 0.86, p\0.001) in the risk of early sexual intercourse (before the age of 14). For instance, offspring born to teenage mothers were 2.46 times more likely to have sex before the age of 14 than offspring born to non-teenage mothers. The association between MAC and early sexual activity remained when controlling for maternal characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, adolescent delinquency, depression, and educational level, and when comparing differentially exposed siblings (OR = .93, p\0.05). Maternal teenage childbearing was also associated with offspring adolescent depression (from ages 14- to 17-year-old), as measured by the CESD (b = -0.04 SD/year at childbearing, p\0.001). The association remained when controlling for maternal covariates and when comparing siblings differentially exposed (b = -0.04 SD/year at childbearing, p\0.001). The results suggest that environmental factors specifically associated with early childbearing account for increased risk of early sexual activity and adolescent depression in offspring.
Bibliography Citation
D'Onofrio, Brian M., Kelly L Donahue, Claire A. Coyne, Carol A. Van Hulle, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Irwin D. Waldman and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Early Maternal Age at Childbearing and Offspring Functioning During Adolescence: A Sibling-Comparison Study of Sexual Behavior and Depression." Presented: Minneapolis MN, Behavior Genetics Association Annual Meeting, 2009.
8. D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Goodnight, Jackson A.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rathouz, Paul J.
Waldman, Irwin D.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of the Association Between Family Income and Offspring Conduct Problems
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 37,3 (April 2009):415–429.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/c84v1067388u5786/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavior, Antisocial; Birth Order; Family Characteristics; Family Income; Gender Differences; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Mothers, Behavior; Siblings; Variables, Independent - Covariate

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The study presents a quasi-experimental analysis of data on 9,194 offspring (ages 4–11 years old) of women from a nationally representative U.S. sample of households to test the causal hypotheses about the association between family income and childhood conduct problems (CPs). Comparison of unrelated individuals in the sample indicated a robust inverse association, with the relation being larger at higher levels of income and for male offspring, even when statistical covariates were included to account for measured confounds that distinguish different families. Offspring also were compared to their siblings and cousins who were exposed to different levels of family income in childhood to rule out unmeasured environmental and genetic factors confounded with family income as explanations for the association. In these within-family analyses, boys exposed to lower family income still exhibited significantly higher levels of CPs. When considered in the context of previous studies using different designs, these results support the inference that family income influences CPs, particularly in males, through causal environmental processes specifically related to earnings within the nuclear family.
Bibliography Citation
D'Onofrio, Brian M., Jackson A. Goodnight, Carol A. Van Hulle, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Paul J. Rathouz, Irwin D. Waldman and Benjamin B. Lahey. "A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of the Association Between Family Income and Offspring Conduct Problems." Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 37,3 (April 2009):415–429. A.
9. D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Goodnight, Jackson A.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rathouz, Paul J.
Waldman, Irwin D.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Maternal Age at Childbirth and Offspring Disruptive Behaviors: Testing the Causal Hypothesis
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50,8 (August 2009): 1018-1028.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02068.x/full
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Age at Birth; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Children, Behavioral Development; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Siblings

Recent studies suggest that the association between Background: maternal age at childbearing (MAC) and children's disruptive behaviors is the result of family factors that are confounded with both variables, rather than a casual effect of environmental factors specifically related to MAC. These studies, however, relied on restricted samples and did not use the strongest approach to test causal influences.

Using data on 9,171 4–9-year-old and 6,592 10–13-year-old Methods: offspring of women from a nationally representative sample of US households, we conducted sibling-comparison analyses. The analyses ruled out all genetic factors that could confound the association, as well as all environmental confounds that differ between unrelated nuclear families, providing a strong test of the causal hypothesis that the environments of children born at different maternal ages influence mother- and self-reported disruptive behaviors.

When these genetic and environmental confounds were ruled out Results: as alternative explanations, the relation between environments within nuclear families specifically associated with MAC and disruptive behaviors was robust, with the association being stronger for second- and third-born children.

Environmental factors specifically associated with early Conclusions: MAC within nuclear families account for increased risk of offspring disruptive behaviors, especially in later-born children.

Bibliography Citation
D'Onofrio, Brian M., Jackson A. Goodnight, Carol A. Van Hulle, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Paul J. Rathouz, Irwin D. Waldman and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Maternal Age at Childbirth and Offspring Disruptive Behaviors: Testing the Causal Hypothesis." Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50,8 (August 2009): 1018-1028.
10. D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Waldman, Irwin D.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Harden, K. Paige
Rathouz, Paul J.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Smoking During Pregnancy And Offspring Externalizing Problems: An Exploration of Genetic and Environmental Confounds
Development and Psychopathology 20,1 (Winter 2008): 139-164.
Also: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1641960&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0954579408000072
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Keyword(s): Attention/Attention Deficit; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavioral Problems; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Genetics; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Smoking (see Cigarette Use); Variables, Independent - Covariate

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Previous studies have documented that smoking during pregnancy (SDP) is associated with offspring externalizing problems, even when measured covariates were used to control for possible confounds. However, the association may be because of nonmeasured environmental and genetic factors that increase risk for offspring externalizing problems. The current project used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and their children, ages 4-10 years, to explore the relations between SDP and offspring conduct problems (CPs), oppositional defiant problems (ODPs), and attention-deficit/hyperactivity problems (ADHPs) using methodological and statistical controls for confounds. When offspring were compared to their own siblings who differed in their exposure to prenatal nicotine, there was no effect of SDP on offspring CP and ODP. This suggests that SDP does not have a causal effect on offspring CP and ODP. There was a small association between SDP and ADHP, consistent with a causal effect of SDP, but the magnitude of the association was greatly reduced by methodological and statistical controls. Genetically informed analyses suggest that unmeasured environmental variables influencing both SDP and offspring externalizing behaviors account for the previously observed associations. That is, the current analyses imply that important unidentified environmental factors account for the association between SDP and offspring externalizing problems, not teratogenic effects of SDP.
Bibliography Citation
D'Onofrio, Brian M., Carol A. Van Hulle, Irwin D. Waldman, Joseph Lee Rodgers, K. Paige Harden, Paul J. Rathouz and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Smoking During Pregnancy And Offspring Externalizing Problems: An Exploration of Genetic and Environmental Confounds." Development and Psychopathology 20,1 (Winter 2008): 139-164.
11. D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Waldman, Irwin D.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rathouz, Paul J.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Causal Inferences Regarding Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Childhood Externalizing Problems
Archives of General Psychiatry 64,11 (November 2007): 1296-1304.
Also: http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/64/11/1296
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Medical Association
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavioral Problems; Cognitive Ability; Epidemiology; Genetics; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes; Variables, Independent - Covariate

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

CONTEXT: Existing research on the neurobehavioral consequences of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has not adequately accounted for genetic and environmental confounds. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between PAE and offspring externalizing problems in a large representative sample of families in the United States using measured covariates and a quasi-experimental design to account for unmeasured genetic and environmental confounds. DESIGN: This study combines information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The analyses statistically controlled for measured characteristics of the mothers and families and exposure to other prenatal psychoactive substances. In the primary analyses, siblings differentially exposed to prenatal alcohol were compared. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Women were recruited from the community using a stratified and clustered probability sample and were followed longitudinally. The sample included 8621 offspring of 4912 mothers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Maternal report of conduct problems (CPs) and attention/impulsivity problems (AIPs) during childhood (ages 4-11 years) using standardized assessments related to psychiatric diagnoses. RESULTS: There was an association between PAE and offspring CPs that was independent of confounded genetic and fixed environmental effects and the measured covariates. The CPs in children of mothers who drank daily during pregnancy were 0.35 SD greater than those in children whose mothers never drank during pregnancy. Although AIPs were associated with PAE when comparing unrelated offspring, children whose mothers drank more frequently during pregnancy did not have more AIPs than siblings who were less exposed to alcohol in utero. Additional subsample analyses suggested that maternal polysubstance use during pregnancy may account for the associations between PAE and AIPs. CONCLUSION: These results are consistent with PAE exerting an environment ally mediated causal effect on childhood CPs, but the relation between PAE and AIPs is more likely to be caused by other factors correlated with maternal drinking during pregnancy.
Bibliography Citation
D'Onofrio, Brian M., Carol A. Van Hulle, Irwin D. Waldman, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Paul J. Rathouz and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Causal Inferences Regarding Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Childhood Externalizing Problems." Archives of General Psychiatry 64,11 (November 2007): 1296-1304.
12. Donahue, Kelly L.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Psychosocial Predictors of Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis in a Nationally Representative Sample of American Youths
Journal of Adolescent Health 54,2 (February 2014): S15-S16.
Also: http://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X%2813%2900581-8/fulltext
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Age at First Intercourse; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); CESD (Depression Scale); Dating; Depression (see also CESD); Genetics; Kinship; Sexual Activity; Siblings

Participants were drawn from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a longitudinal, nationally representative, and genetically informative sample in the United States (N = 7,743). Using a sibling comparison approach, we tested whether associations between measures of childhood psychosocial adjustment (i.e., early dating, substance use, and emotional and behavioral problems) and adolescent sexual risk behavior (i.e., early age at first intercourse and number of past-year sexual partners) remained after controlling for confounds shared by full siblings and maternal half siblings who differed in their exposure to each risk factor. Next, using quantitative genetic modeling, we also estimated the extent to which these associations were attributable to shared genetic, shared environmental, or nonshared environmental influences.
Bibliography Citation
Donahue, Kelly L., Carol A. Van Hulle, Joseph Lee Rodgers and Brian M. D'Onofrio. "Psychosocial Predictors of Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior: A Quasi-Experimental Analysis in a Nationally Representative Sample of American Youths." Journal of Adolescent Health 54,2 (February 2014): S15-S16.
13. Doughty, Debby
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Behavior Genetic Modeling of Menarche in U.S. Females
In: Genetic Influences on Human Fertility and Sexuality. J. L. Rodgers, et al., eds. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Keyword(s): Age at Menarche/First Menstruation; Behavior; Family Environment; Family Structure; Fathers, Absence; Fertility; Genetics; Kinship; Menarche/First Menstruation; Modeling; Siblings; Women

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Most previous research has been logically unable to disentangle the genetic and environmental influences on age at menarche. We present data on 1338 kinship pairs from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in a behavior genetic analysis, partitioning variability in menarcheal age into genetic and environmental sources. About half the variability in menarcheal age was related to genetic influences, h2=.54, and almost half to nonshared environmental influences plus error. No influence of the shared environment was found. Motivated by the evolutionary theory of Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper, the influence of family composition/stability was tested as a nonshared environmental influence. In line with previous findings, father absence was associated with a younger age at menarche. Residing with two parents under extreme living conditions may delay age at menarche. No association of family size, birth order, personality, income, or parental education with age at menarche was found.
Bibliography Citation
Doughty, Debby and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Behavior Genetic Modeling of Menarche in U.S. Females" In: Genetic Influences on Human Fertility and Sexuality. J. L. Rodgers, et al., eds. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000
14. Garrison, S. Mason
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Casting Doubt on the Causal Link between Intelligence and Age at First Intercourse: A Cross-generational Sibling Comparison Design Using the NLSY
Intelligence 59 (November-December 2016): 139-156.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289616300162
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Intelligence; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings

In this study, we use an intergenerational sibling comparison design to investigate the causal link between intelligence and AFI, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 and the NLSY-Children/Young Adult data. We measured maternal IQ using the AFQT, child IQ using PPVT, PIAT, and Digit Span, and AFI, using respondent self-report. Our analytic method used Kenny's (2001) reciprocal standard dyad model. This model supported analyses treating the data as only between-family data (as in most past studies), and also allowed us to include both between- and within-family comparisons. These analyses included two forms, first a comparison of offspring of mothers in relation to maternal IQ, then a comparison of offspring themselves in relation to offspring IQ.

When we evaluated the relationship between maternal/child intelligence and AFI, using a between-family design, we replicated earlier results; smart teens do appear to delay sex. In the within-family analyses, the relationship between intelligence and AFI vanishes for both maternal intelligence and child intelligence. The finding is robust across gender and age. These results suggest that the cause of the intelligence-AFI link is not intelligence per se, but rather differences between families (parental education, SES, etc.) that correlate with family-level (but not individual-level) intelligence.

Bibliography Citation
Garrison, S. Mason and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Casting Doubt on the Causal Link between Intelligence and Age at First Intercourse: A Cross-generational Sibling Comparison Design Using the NLSY." Intelligence 59 (November-December 2016): 139-156.
15. Garrison, S. Mason
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Decomposing the Causes of the Socioeconomic Status-Health Gradient with Biometrical Modeling
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 116,6 (2019): 1030-1047.
Also: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2018-56705-001.html
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Health, Mental/Psychological; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Kinship; Socioeconomic Status (SES)

The consistent relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health has been widely covered in the media and scientific journals, which typically argue that physical-health inequalities are caused by material disadvantage directly or indirectly (e.g., chronic environmental-stress, health care resources, etc.). Such explanations do not explain the finely stratified health differences across the entire range of SES. Recent theories have helped address such limitations, but implicate multiple different explanatory pathways. For example, differential epidemiology articles have argued that individual differences are the "fundamental cause" of the gradient (Gottfredson, 2004). Alternatively, variants of allostatic load theory (McEwen & Stellar, 1993), such as the Risky Families model (Repetti, Taylor, & Seeman, 2002) implicate the early home-environment. These theory-driven pathways align with interpretations associated with biometrical models; yet, little research has applied biometrical modeling to understanding the sources of the gradient. Our study presents several innovations and new research findings. First, we use kinship information from a large national family dataset, the NLSY79, whose respondents are approximately representative of United States adolescents in 1979. Second, we present the first biometrical analysis of the relationships between SES and health that uses an overall SES measure. Third, we separate physical and mental health, using excellent measurement of each construct. Fourth, we use a bivariate biometrical model to study overlap between health and SES. Results suggest divergent findings for physical and mental health. Biometrical models indicate a primarily genetic etiology for the link between SES and physical health, and a primarily environmental etiology for the link between SES and mental health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)
Bibliography Citation
Garrison, S. Mason and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Decomposing the Causes of the Socioeconomic Status-Health Gradient with Biometrical Modeling." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 116,6 (2019): 1030-1047.
16. Garrison, Sarah Mason
Hadd, Alexandria
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Impact of Adolescent Conscientiousness and Intelligence on Health at Middle Age: A Sibling Comparison Approach
Presented: Long Beach CA, Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, February 2015
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Keyword(s): Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Intelligence; Personality/Big Five Factor Model or Traits; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) 1979, we examined the joint impact of intelligence and persistence assessed at adolescence on self-reported health at age 40
Bibliography Citation
Garrison, Sarah Mason, Alexandria Hadd and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Impact of Adolescent Conscientiousness and Intelligence on Health at Middle Age: A Sibling Comparison Approach." Presented: Long Beach CA, Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, February 2015.
17. Goodnight, Jackson A.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rathouz, Paul J.
Waldman, Irwin D.
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of the Influence of Neighborhood Disadvantage on Child and Adolescent Conduct Problems
Journal of Abnormal Psychology 121,1 (February 2012): 95-108.
Also: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21942334
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavior, Antisocial; Birth Order; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Family Characteristics; Family Income; Gender Differences; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Mothers, Behavior; Neighborhood Effects; Siblings; Variables, Independent - Covariate

A quasi-experimental comparison of cousins differentially exposed to levels of neighborhood disadvantage (ND) was used with extensive measured covariates to test the hypothesis that neighborhood risk has independent effects on youth conduct problems (CPs). Multilevel analyses were based on mother-rated ND and both mother-reported CPs across 4-13 years (n = 7,077) and youth-reported CPs across 10-13 years (n = 4,524) from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. ND was robustly related to CPs reported by both informants when controlling for both measured risk factors that are correlated with ND and unmeasured confounds. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that ND has influence on conduct problems.
Bibliography Citation
Goodnight, Jackson A., Benjamin B. Lahey, Carol A. Van Hulle, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Paul J. Rathouz, Irwin D. Waldman and Brian M. D'Onofrio. "A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of the Influence of Neighborhood Disadvantage on Child and Adolescent Conduct Problems." Journal of Abnormal Psychology 121,1 (February 2012): 95-108.
18. Hadd, Alexandria
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Intelligence, Income, and Education as Potential Influences on a Child's Home Environment: A (Maternal) Sibling-Comparison Design
Developmental Psychology 53,7 (July 2017): 1286-1299.
Also: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/53/7/1286.html
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Home Environment; Household Income; Intelligence; Kinship; Mothers; Parental Influences; Siblings

The quality of the home environment, as a predictor, is related to health, education, and emotion outcomes. However, factors influencing the quality of the home environment, as an outcome, have been understudied--particularly how children construct their own environments. Further, most previous research on family processes and outcomes has implemented between-family designs, which limit claims of causality. The present study uses kinship data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to construct a maternal sibling-comparison design to investigate how maternal and child traits predict the quality of home environment. Using a standard between-family analysis, we first replicate previous research showing a relationship between maternal intelligence and the quality of the home environment. Then, we reevaluate the link between maternal intelligence and the home environment using differences between maternal sisters on several characteristics to explain differences between home environments for their children. Following, we evaluate whether child intelligence differences are related to home environment differences in the presence of maternal characteristics. Results are compared with those from the between-family analysis. Past causal interpretations are challenged by our findings, and the role of child intelligence in the construction of the home environment emerges as a critical contributor that increases in importance with development.
Bibliography Citation
Hadd, Alexandria and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Intelligence, Income, and Education as Potential Influences on a Child's Home Environment: A (Maternal) Sibling-Comparison Design." Developmental Psychology 53,7 (July 2017): 1286-1299.
19. Harden, K. Paige
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Turkheimer, Eric
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Waldman, Irwin D.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Population Density And Youth Antisocial Behavior
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50,8 (2009): 999-1008.
Also: http://journals.ohiolink.edu.proxy.lib.ohio-state.edu/ejc/pdf.cgi/Paige_Harden_K.pdf?issn=00219630&issue=v50i0008&article=999_pdayab
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Bayesian; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Delinquency/Gang Activity; Depression (see also CESD); Ethnic Differences; Geocoded Data; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Mothers, Behavior; Neighborhood Effects; Pre/post Natal Behavior; Racial Differences; Smoking (see Cigarette Use); Urbanization/Urban Living

Theoretical models concerning how neighborhood contexts adversely influence juvenile antisocial behavior frequently focus on urban neighborhoods; however, previous studies comparing urban and rural areas on the prevalence of youth antisocial behavior have yielded mixed results. The current study uses longitudinal data on the offspring of a nationally representative sample of mothers (N = 4,886) in the US. There was no relation between density and mother-reported child conduct problems across ages 4–13 years, but youth living in areas of greater population density exhibited more youth self-reported delinquency across 10–17 years. Families often moved to counties with greater or lesser population density, but longitudinal analyses treating population density as a time-varying covariate did not support the hypothesis that living in densely populated counties influenced youth delinquency. Rather, the association between population density and delinquency appears to be due to unmeasured selection variables that differ between families who live in more or less densely populated counties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)
Bibliography Citation
Harden, K. Paige, Brian M. D'Onofrio, Carol A. Van Hulle, Eric Turkheimer, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Irwin D. Waldman and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Population Density And Youth Antisocial Behavior." Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50,8 (2009): 999-1008.
20. Hunter, Michael D.
Bard, David E.
Beasley, William H.
Meredith, Kelly M.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
A Dynamic Mixture Biometric Model of Cognitive Development in the NLSY Children
Presented: Charlottesville VA, Behavior Genetics Association Annual Meeting, June 2014
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Genetics; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A novel method of combining within-person and between-person variability in a biometrically informed model was used to examine nonlinear cognitive development in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child/Young Adult (NLSYC/YA) dataset. Entirely within person biometric models (e.g. Molenaar 2010) can be fit, but generally assume that all persons are heterogeneous. By contrast, conventional between-person biometric models (e.g. Martin & Eaves 1977) make the opposite assumption: that the sample is uniformly homogeneous. State space mixture modeling (SSMMing) is a middle ground. SSMMs make a within-person longitudinal biometric model for each pair of genetically related participants to account for the idiographic nature of genetic and developmental variability (Nesselroade, Gerstorf, Hardy, and Ram 2007; Molenaar, Boomsma, and Dolan 1993). Simultaneously, SSMMs allow for a finite number of groups that are within-group homogeneous and between-group heterogeneous to allow for uniformity in development among some people. The longitudinal model in SSMMs has both autoregressive and linear slope components with individually estimated growth trajectories. Hence, nonlinear patterns of change are allowed in the context of linear modeling. Five longitudinally measured cognitive variables (PIAT Reading Recognition, Reading Comprehension, and Math; PPVT; and Digit Span) from the NLSYC are used both to illustrate SSMMs as a method and to provide insight into this important process. The finding that cognitive ability is highly heritable between individuals was replicated in cross-sectional subsets of the NLSYC. However, the within-person longitudinal model showed minimal contribution from additive genetic variance across the five cognitive variables. A SSMM with two groups found a small subgroup in which cognitive ability was heritable within persons, but for the majority of individuals studied the intraindividual variance was dominated by common and specific environmental factors. The structure of intraindividual heritability of cognitive ability thus appears quite different from that found in conventional between person biometric modeling.
Bibliography Citation
Hunter, Michael D., David E. Bard, William H. Beasley, Kelly M. Meredith and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "A Dynamic Mixture Biometric Model of Cognitive Development in the NLSY Children." Presented: Charlottesville VA, Behavior Genetics Association Annual Meeting, June 2014.
21. Hunter, Michael D.
Garrison, S. Mason
Burt, S. Alexandra
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
The Analytic Identification of Variance Component Models Common to Behavior Genetics
Behavior Genetics 51 (July 2021): 425-437.
Also: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10519-021-10055-x
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Family Environment; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Modeling; Research Methodology; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Many behavior genetics models follow the same general structure. We describe this general structure and analytically derive simple criteria for its identification. In particular, we find that variance components can be uniquely estimated whenever the relatedness matrices that define the components are linearly independent (i.e., not confounded). Thus, we emphasize determining which variance components can be identified given a set of genetic and environmental relationships, rather than the estimation procedures. We validate the identification criteria with several well-known models, and further apply them to several less common models. The first model distinguishes child-rearing environment from extended family environment. The second model adds a gene-by-common-environment interaction term in sets of twins reared apart and together. The third model separates measured-genomic relatedness from the scanner site variation in a hypothetical functional magnetic resonance imaging study. The computationally easy analytic identification criteria allow researchers to quickly address model identification issues and define novel variance components, facilitating the development of new research questions.
Bibliography Citation
Hunter, Michael D., S. Mason Garrison, S. Alexandra Burt and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "The Analytic Identification of Variance Component Models Common to Behavior Genetics." Behavior Genetics 51 (July 2021): 425-437.
22. Jaffee, Sara R.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Effects of Nonmaternal Care in the First 3 Years on Children's Academic Skills and Behavioral Functioning in Childhood and Early Adolescence: A Sibling Comparison Study
Child Development 82,4 (July/August 2011): 1076–1091.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01611.x/abstract
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavior, Antisocial; Child Care; Kinship; Maternal Employment; Modeling, Fixed Effects; Modeling, Multilevel; Mothers, Behavior; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings; Temperament

Nonmaternal care of infant children is increasingly common, but there is disagreement as to whether it is harmful for children. Using data from 9,185 children (5 years and older) who participated in the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the current study compared 2 groups: those for whom nonmaternal care was initiated in the first 3 years and those for whom it was not. Between-family comparisons showed that early nonmaternal care was associated with higher achievement and lower behavior problem scores in childhood and adolescence. However, within-family comparisons failed to detect differences between siblings who had different early nonmaternal care experiences. The study concludes that the timing of entry to nonmaternal care in the first 3 years has neither positive nor negative effects on children's outcomes.
© 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.
Bibliography Citation
Jaffee, Sara R., Carol A. Van Hulle and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Effects of Nonmaternal Care in the First 3 Years on Children's Academic Skills and Behavioral Functioning in Childhood and Early Adolescence: A Sibling Comparison Study." Child Development 82,4 (July/August 2011): 1076–1091. A.
23. Kohler, Hans-Peter
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Skytthe, Axel
Subjective Well-Being, Fertility and Partnerships: A Biodemographic Perspective
Presented: Philadelphia, PA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, March-April 2005
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Behavior; Cross-national Analysis; Danish Twin-Omnibus-Survey; Denmark, Danish; Fertility; Genetics; Socioeconomic Factors; Well-Being

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We propose comparative behavior genetic analyzes of subjective well-being, fertility and partnerships from a biodemographic perspective using the 2002 Danish twin omnibus survey and the U.S. National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY). Our preliminary analyzes of the Danish data suggest a systematic positive association between the genetic components of variation in subjective well-being and of variation in fertility/partnership behaviors. For males, for instance, genetic dispositions that tend to increase subjective well-being are associated with a higher number of partnerships, a higher probability of being currently in a partnership, and a larger number of children. The analyzes of the NLSY will augment these analyzes in two dimensions: first, the analyzes reveal whether the results vary across socioeconomic contexts (the U.S. versus Denmark), and second, the longitudinal data in the NLSY allow analyzes of changes in happiness, fertility and partnerships over time, which is impossible in the cross-sectional twin data.
Bibliography Citation
Kohler, Hans-Peter, Joseph Lee Rodgers and Axel Skytthe. "Subjective Well-Being, Fertility and Partnerships: A Biodemographic Perspective." Presented: Philadelphia, PA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, March-April 2005.
24. Koval, Andriy
Beasley, William H.
Hararuk, Oleksandra
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Social Contagion and General Diffusion Models of Adolescent Religious Transitions: A Tutorial, and EMOSA Applications
Journal of Research on Adolescence published online (10 December 2021): DOI: 10.1111/jora.12695.
Also: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jora.12695
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Bayesian; Monte Carlo; Religion; Religious Influences; Social Contacts/Social Network

Epidemic Models of the Onset of Social Activities (EMOSA) describe behaviors that spread through social networks. Two social influence methods are represented, social contagion (one-to-one spread) and general diffusion (spread through cultural channels). Past models explain problem behaviors--smoking, drinking, sexuality, and delinquency. We provide review, and a tutorial (including examples). Following, we present new EMOSA models explaining changes in adolescent and young adult religious participation. We fit the model to 10 years of data from the 1997 U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Innovations include a three-stage bi-directional model, Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) estimation, graphical innovations, and empirical validation. General diffusion dominated rapid reduction in church attendance during adolescence; both diffusion and social contagion explained church attendance stability in early adulthood.
Bibliography Citation
Koval, Andriy, William H. Beasley, Oleksandra Hararuk and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Social Contagion and General Diffusion Models of Adolescent Religious Transitions: A Tutorial, and EMOSA Applications." Journal of Research on Adolescence published online (10 December 2021): DOI: 10.1111/jora.12695.
25. Lahey, Benjamin B.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Waldman, Irwin D.
Is Parental Knowledge of their Adolescent Offspring's Whereabouts and Peer Associations Spuriously Associated with Offspring Delinquency?
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 36,6 (August 2008): 807-823. Online: January 24, 2008.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/x636801136356128/?p=ace6e76807404b8d857fdf594a5c0a8f&pi=0
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Child Self-Administered Supplement (CSAS); Delinquency/Gang Activity; Neighborhood Effects; Parent Supervision/Monitoring; Parent-Child Interaction; Parental Influences; Peers/Peer influence/Peer relations; Variables, Independent - Covariate

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Recent studies suggest that most of what parents know about their adolescent offspring's whereabouts and companions is the result of youth disclosure, rather than information gained through active parental monitoring. This raises the possibility that parental knowledge is spuriously correlated with youth delinquency solely because the most delinquent youth disclose the least information to parents (because they have the most to hide). We tested this spurious association hypothesis using prospective data on offspring of a nationally representative sample of US women, controlling demographic and contextual covariates. In separate analyses, greater parental knowledge of their offspring's peer associations at both 12–13 years and at 14–15 years was associated with lower odds of being in the top 1 standard deviation of youth-reported delinquency at 16–17 years, controlling for delinquency at the earlier ages. The extent to which parents set limits on activities with peers at 14–15 years did not mediate or moderate the association between parental knowledge and delinquency, but it did independently predict future delinquency among adolescents living in high-risk neighborhoods. This suggests that the association between parental knowledge and future delinquency is not solely spurious; rather parental knowledge and limit setting are both meaningful predictors of future delinquency.
Bibliography Citation
Lahey, Benjamin B., Carol A. Van Hulle, Brian M. D'Onofrio, Joseph Lee Rodgers and Irwin D. Waldman. "Is Parental Knowledge of their Adolescent Offspring's Whereabouts and Peer Associations Spuriously Associated with Offspring Delinquency?" Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 36,6 (August 2008): 807-823. Online: January 24, 2008.
26. Lahey, Benjamin B.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Keenan, Kate
Rathouz, Paul J.
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Waldman, Irwin D.
Temperament and Parenting during the First Year of Life Predict Future Child Conduct Problems
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 36,8 (November 2008): 1139-1158
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Infants; Parent-Child Interaction; Parental Influences; Temperament

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Predictive associations between parenting and temperament during the first year of life and child conduct problems were assessed longitudinally in 1,863 offspring of a representative sample of women. Maternal ratings of infant fussiness, activity level, predictability, and positive affect each independently predicted maternal ratings of conduct problems during ages 4–13 years. Furthermore, a significant interaction indicated that infants who were both low in fussiness and high in predictability were at very low risk for future conduct problems. Fussiness was a stronger predictor of conduct problems in boys whereas fearfulness was a stronger predictor in girls. Conduct problems also were robustly predicted by low levels of early mother-report cognitive stimulation when infant temperament was controlled. Interviewer-rated maternal responsiveness was a robust predictor of conduct problems, but only among infants low in fearfulness. Spanking during infancy predicted slightly more severe conduct problems, but the prediction was moderated by infant fussiness and positive affect. Thus, individual differences in risk for mother-rated conduct problems across childhood are already partly evident in maternal ratings of temperament during the first year of life and are predicted by early parenting and parenting-by-temperament interactions.
Bibliography Citation
Lahey, Benjamin B., Carol A. Van Hulle, Kate Keenan, Paul J. Rathouz, Brian M. D'Onofrio, Joseph Lee Rodgers and Irwin D. Waldman. "Temperament and Parenting during the First Year of Life Predict Future Child Conduct Problems." Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 36,8 (November 2008): 1139-1158.
27. Lahey, Benjamin B.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Waldman, Irwin D.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Pedlow, Steven
Rathouz, Paul J.
Keenan, Kate
Testing Descriptive Hypotheses Regarding Sex Differences in the Development of Conduct Problems and Delinquency
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 34,5 (October 2006): 737-755.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/j1716gl8501w8082/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Delinquency/Gang Activity; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Temperament

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Accurate descriptions of sex differences in the development of childhood conduct problems and adolescent delinquency will inform theories of their causes in fundamentally important ways. Using data on 4,572 offspring of a national sample of women, we tested descriptive hypotheses regarding sex differences. As predicted, the magnitude of sex differences varied with age, suggesting that multiple processes differentially influence levels of these behaviors in females and males across development. During childhood, boys scored lower on measures of cognitive ability and exhibited lower sociability and compliance and greater hyperactivity, oppositional behavior, and conduct problems. Most of these variables were associated with childhood conduct problems and adolescent delinquency equally in females and males, but maternal delinquency and early childhood sociability were correlated more strongly with childhood conduct problems in males and childhood compliance predicted adolescent delinquency more strongly in females. Both sexes exhibited both childhood-onset and adolescent-onset trajectories of delinquency. Although more males followed a childhood-onset trajectory, there were few sex differences in the early childhood risk correlates of either delinquency trajectory.
Bibliography Citation
Lahey, Benjamin B., Carol A. Van Hulle, Irwin D. Waldman, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Brian M. D'Onofrio, Steven Pedlow, Paul J. Rathouz and Kate Keenan. "Testing Descriptive Hypotheses Regarding Sex Differences in the Development of Conduct Problems and Delinquency ." Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 34,5 (October 2006): 737-755.
28. Mendle, Jane
Harden, K. Paige
Turkheimer, Eric
Van Hulle, Carol A.
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Emery, Robert E.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Associations Between Father Absence and Age of First Sexual Intercourse
Child Development 80,5 (September/October 2009): 1463-1480.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01345.x/abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Adolescent Sexual Activity; Age at First Intercourse; Family Structure; Fathers, Absence; Genetics; Kinship; Sexual Activity; Siblings

Children raised without a biological father in the household have earlier average ages of first sexual intercourse than children raised in father-present households. Competing theoretical perspectives have attributed this either to effects of father absence on socialization and physical maturation or to nonrandom selection of children predisposed for early sexual intercourse into father-absent households. Genetically informative analyses of the children of sister dyads (N = 1,382, aged 14–21 years) support the selection hypothesis: This association seems attributable to confounded risks, most likely genetic in origin, which correlated both with likelihood of father absence and early sexual behavior. This holds implications for environmental theories of maturation and suggests that previous research may have inadvertently overestimated the role of family structure in reproductive maturation.
Bibliography Citation
Mendle, Jane, K. Paige Harden, Eric Turkheimer, Carol A. Van Hulle, Brian M. D'Onofrio, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Robert E. Emery and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Associations Between Father Absence and Age of First Sexual Intercourse." Child Development 80,5 (September/October 2009): 1463-1480.
29. Mendle, Jane
Harden, K. Paige
Van Hulle, Carol A.
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Emery, Robert E.
Turkheimer, Eric
Father Absence and Early Sexual Activity: Revisiting Evolutionary Theories
Presented: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Behavior Genetics Association 37th Annual Meeting, June 5, 2007.
Cohort(s): NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Adolescent Sexual Activity; Age at First Intercourse; Fathers, Absence; Genetics; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Sexual Activity; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Children raised without a biological father present in the household are more likely to exhibit precocious and risky sexual behavior during adolescence. Most explanations for this association invoke an evolutionary mechanism: individuals have evolved such that early childhood environment influences the particular reproductive strategies manifest later in life. The developmental pathways presaging adult reproductive behavior are especially sensitive to the father's family role and the quality of paternal care is believed to affect sexual development independent of other stressors in the family system. Although these theories conceptualize early sexual activity as a consequence of familial stress, a genetic predisposition for risky sexual behavior may manifest in father absence in parents and in precocious sexual maturation in children. One means of clarifying the role of father absence in timing of first intercourse is through studying offspring of twins and/or sisters. If the association between timing of intercourse and paternal absence is an artifact of familial risk, the age of first intercourse in children of discordant sibling dyads will be comparable -- despite the differing environmental circumstances in which these cousins were raised. This alternative hypothesis was tested in a sample of adolescent children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), using multilevel survival models adapted from the more common children of-twins (CoT) design. Results were not consistent with a causal role of father absence on offspring sexuality; children who experienced father absence did not differ in age of first intercourse from either siblings or cousins raised with present fathers. But, these children did differ from those who had no father absence in either their nuclear or extended family. This suggests that it is not father absence, per se, but rather some familial factor correlated with father absence that produces this association.
Bibliography Citation
Mendle, Jane, K. Paige Harden, Carol A. Van Hulle, Brian M. D'Onofrio, Benjamin B. Lahey, Joseph Lee Rodgers, Robert E. Emery and Eric Turkheimer. "Father Absence and Early Sexual Activity: Revisiting Evolutionary Theories." Presented: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Behavior Genetics Association 37th Annual Meeting, June 5, 2007.
30. Miller, Warren B.
Bard, David E.
Pasta, David J.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Biodemographic Modeling of the Links Between Fertility Motivation and Fertility Outcomes in the NLSY79
Demography 47,2 (May 2010): 393-414.
Also: http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/demography/v047/47.2.miller.html
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Fertility; Gender Attitudes/Roles; Genetics; LISREL; Modeling; Modeling, Multilevel

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In spite of long-held beliefs that traits related to reproductive success tend to become fixed by evolution with little or no genetic variation, there is now considerable evidence that the natural variation of fertility within populations is genetically influenced and that a portion of that influence is related to the motivational precursors to fertility. We conduct a two-stage analysis to examine these inferences in a time-ordered multivariate context. First, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979, and LISREL analysis, we develop a structural equation model in which five hypothesized motivational precursors to fertility, measured in 1979-1982, predict both a child-timing and a child-number outcome, measured in 2002. Second, having chosen two time-ordered sequences of six variables from the SEM to represent our phenotypic models, we use Mx to conduct both univariate and multivariate behavioral genetic analyses with the selected variables. Our results indicate that one or more genes acting within a gene network have additive effects that operate through childnumber desires to affect both the timing of the next child born and the final number of children born, that one or more genes acting through a separate network may have additive effects operating through gender role attitudes to produce downstream effects on the two fertility outcomes, and that no genetic variance is associated with either child-timing intentions or educational intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Bibliography Citation
Miller, Warren B., David E. Bard, David J. Pasta and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Biodemographic Modeling of the Links Between Fertility Motivation and Fertility Outcomes in the NLSY79." Demography 47,2 (May 2010): 393-414.
31. Miller, Warren B.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Pasta, David J.
The Fertility Motivations of Youth Predict Later Fertility Outcomes: A Prospective Analysis of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Data
Biodemography and Social Biology 56,1 (January 2010): 1-23.
Also: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19485561003709131
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Keyword(s): Childbearing; Fertility; Gender Attitudes/Roles; Gender Differences; Modeling

We examine how the motivational sequence that leads to childbearing predicts fertility outcomes across reproductive careers. Using a motivational traits-desires-intentions theoretical framework, we test a structural equation model using prospective male and female data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Specifically, we take motivational data collected during the 1979-1982 period, when the youths were in their teens and early twenties, to predict the timing of the next child born after 1982 and the total number of children born by 2002. Separate models were estimated for males and females but with equality constraints imposed unless relaxing these constraints improved the overall model fit. The results indicate substantial explanatory power of fertility motivations for both short-term and long-term fertility outcomes. They also reveal the effects of both gender role attitude and educational intentions on these outcomes. Although some gender differences in model pathways occurred, the primary hypothesized pathways were essentially the same across the genders. Two validity sub-studies support the soundness of the results. A third sub-study comparing the male and female models across the sample split on the basis of previous childbearing revealed a number of pattern differences within the four gender-by-previous childbearing groups. Several of the more robust of these pattern differences offer interesting insights and support the validity and usefulness of our theoretical framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Bibliography Citation
Miller, Warren B., Joseph Lee Rodgers and David J. Pasta. "The Fertility Motivations of Youth Predict Later Fertility Outcomes: A Prospective Analysis of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Data." Biodemography and Social Biology 56,1 (January 2010): 1-23.
32. Neiss, Michelle
Rowe, David C.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Does Education Mediate the Relationship Between IQ and Age of First Birth? A Behavioural Genetic Analysis
Journal of Biosocial Science 34,2 (April 2002): 259-275.
Also: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayIssue?decade=2000&jid=JBS&volumeId=34&issueId=02&iid=99800
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Behavior; Childhood Residence; Education; Genetics; I.Q.; Intelligence; Kinship; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study presents a multivariate behavioural genetic analysis of the relationship between education, intelligence and age of first birth. Analyses investigated the mediational role of education in explaining the relationship between intelligence and age of first birth at both the phenotypic and behavioural genetic level. The data come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), a nationally representative survey that included genetically informative full- and half-sibling pairs (n = 1423 pairs). Respondents were aged 14 to 22 when contacted in 1979. Heritability estimates were 0.32, 0.50 and 0.06 for IQ, education and age of first birth, respectively. Shared environment estimates were 0.35, 0.23 and 0.20 respectively. Common genetic and shared environmental factors were substantial in explaining the relationship between intelligence and education, and also education and age of first birth. Education partially mediated the relationship between intelligence and age of first birth only in the phenotypic analyses. After considering the genetic and shared environmental factors that influence all three variables, evidence for mediation was less convincing. This pattern of results suggests that the apparent mediational role of education at the phenotypic level is in fact the result of underlying genetic and shared environmental influences that affect education, IQ and age of first birth in common.
Bibliography Citation
Neiss, Michelle, David C. Rowe and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Does Education Mediate the Relationship Between IQ and Age of First Birth? A Behavioural Genetic Analysis." Journal of Biosocial Science 34,2 (April 2002): 259-275.
33. O'Keefe, Patrick
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
A Simulation Study of Bootstrap Approaches to Estimate Confidence Intervals in DeFries-Fulker Regression Models (with Application to the Heritability of BMI Changes in the NLSY)
Behavior Genetics 50 (2020): 127-138.
Also: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10519-020-09993-9
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Modeling

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The univariate bootstrap is a relatively recently developed version of the bootstrap (Lee and Rodgers in Psychol Methods 3(1): 91, 1998). DeFries-Fulker (DF) analysis is a regression model used to estimate parameters in behavioral genetic models (DeFries and Fulker in Behav Genet 15(5): 467-473, 1985). It is appealing for its simplicity; however, it violates certain regression assumptions such as homogeneity of variance and independence of errors that make calculation of standard errors and confidence intervals problematic. Methods have been developed to account for these issues (Kohler and Rodgers in Behav Genet 31(2): 179-191, 2001), however the univariate bootstrap represents a unique means of doing so that is presaged by suggestions from previous DF research (e.g., Cherny et al. in Behav Genet 22(2): 153-162, 1992). In the present study we use simulations to examine the performance of the univariate bootstrap in the context of DF analysis. We compare a number of possible bootstrap schemes as well as more traditional confidence interval methods. We follow up with an empirical demonstration, applying results of the simulation to models estimated to investigate changes in body mass index in adults from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 data.
Bibliography Citation
O'Keefe, Patrick and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "A Simulation Study of Bootstrap Approaches to Estimate Confidence Intervals in DeFries-Fulker Regression Models (with Application to the Heritability of BMI Changes in the NLSY)." Behavior Genetics 50 (2020): 127-138.
34. O'Keefe, Patrick
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Double Decomposition of Level-1 Variables in Multilevel Models: An Analysis of the Flynn Effect in the NLSY Data
Multivariate Behavioral Research 52,5 (2017): 630-647.
Also: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00273171.2017.1354758
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Keyword(s): Flynn Effect; I.Q.; Modeling, Multilevel

This paper introduces an extension of cluster mean centering (also called group mean centering) for multilevel models, which we call "double decomposition (DD)." This centering method separates between-level variance, as in cluster mean centering, but also decomposes within-level variance of the same variable. This process retains the benefits of cluster mean centering but allows for context variables derived from lower level variables, other than the cluster mean, to be incorporated into the model. A brief simulation study is presented, demonstrating the potential advantage (or even necessity) for DD in certain circumstances. Several applications to multilevel analysis are discussed. Finally, an empirical demonstration examining the Flynn effect, our motivating example, is presented. The use of DD in the analysis provides a novel method to narrow the field of plausible causal hypotheses regarding the Flynn effect, in line with suggestions by a number of researchers.
Bibliography Citation
O'Keefe, Patrick and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Double Decomposition of Level-1 Variables in Multilevel Models: An Analysis of the Flynn Effect in the NLSY Data." Multivariate Behavioral Research 52,5 (2017): 630-647.
35. O'Keefe, Patrick
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Home Improvement: Evaluating Secular Changes in NLSY HOME-Cognitive Stimulation and Emotional Support Scores
Journal of Child and Family Studies published online (3 November 2021): DOI: 10.1007/s10826-021-02149-1.
Also: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-021-02149-1
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Home Environment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This study evaluated changes over time in the quality of children's home environment, using the Home Observation Measurement of the Environment (HOME). Longitudinal increases in HOME scores were predicted by both theory and past empirical results. Analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children data (N = 5715, aged 0-14) suggested that HOME scores have been increasing, and that the increase is a family-level phenomenon. The data were a sample of children born to mothers who were approximately representative of the United States in 1979. An increase in HOME scores occurred primarily for the three age categories younger than ten. Effect sizes were of approximately the same magnitude as the Flynn effect for intelligence. These results have implications for policy and future research regarding the home environment.
Bibliography Citation
O'Keefe, Patrick and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Home Improvement: Evaluating Secular Changes in NLSY HOME-Cognitive Stimulation and Emotional Support Scores." Journal of Child and Family Studies published online (3 November 2021): DOI: 10.1007/s10826-021-02149-1.
36. O'Keefe, Patrick
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
The Corrosive Influence of the Flynn Effect on Age Normed Tests
Multivariate Behavioral Research 54,1 (2019): 155.
Also: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00273171.2018.1562322
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Keyword(s): Children, Academic Development; Cognitive Ability; Flynn Effect; I.Q.; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

This project provides empirical evidence for this built-in FE [Flynn Effect]. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Children dataset (the NLSYC) and a variety of multilevel models, we: (1) Show a within person effect with individuals scoring higher over time and (2) Do not find evidence for practice. Previous work (O’Keefe & Rodgers, 2017 O’Keefe, P., & Rodgers, J. L. (2017) with this sample suggests the within person effect is not the FE itself. The NLSYC is well-suited to the task because it includes a known FE and longitudinal data. We conclude that there may be an artificial FE built into ability instruments because of this norming bias.
Bibliography Citation
O'Keefe, Patrick and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "The Corrosive Influence of the Flynn Effect on Age Normed Tests." Multivariate Behavioral Research 54,1 (2019): 155.
37. O'Keefe, Patrick
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
The Flynn Effect Can Become Embedded in Tests: How Cross-sectional Age Norms Can Corrupt Longitudinal Research
Intelligence 82 (September-October 2020): 101481.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289620300593
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Flynn Effect; I.Q.; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

The Flynn Effect (FE; Flynn, 1984, Flynn, 1987) is the decades-long increase in measured mean IQ of approximately 1/3 point per year, observed in industrialized nations over the course of at least a century. An obvious and practical implication of the FE is that the FE can cause test norm obsolescence. If norms from 1970 were used today, the average score would be approximately a standard deviation above the original mean. A more subtle effect was suggested by Mingroni (2007): Age-normed tests could have a FE "built-in" through the norming process. His observation can be true in any case where there are cohort differences (between- or within-family); it is almost certain to occur in cases where cross-sectional samples are used to age norm in the presence of cohort effects. We illuminate this process in several ways, because it can significantly impact longitudinal research. If the "built in FE" hypothesis is supported, then the FE potentially affects resulting scores assigned to test-takers from all age-normed cognitive tests exhibiting a FE. A series of graphic simulations demonstrate the logic. Following, analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children data suggest that the Flynn Effect is indeed built into the PIAT-Math scores.
Bibliography Citation
O'Keefe, Patrick and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "The Flynn Effect Can Become Embedded in Tests: How Cross-sectional Age Norms Can Corrupt Longitudinal Research." Intelligence 82 (September-October 2020): 101481.
38. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Behavior Genetic Modeling of Raging Hormones: DF Analysis of Adolescent Deviance
Presented: University Park, PA, Society for the Study of Social Biology Meetings, 1993
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Society for the Study of Social Biology
Keyword(s): Deviance; Genetics; Modeling

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee. "Behavior Genetic Modeling of Raging Hormones: DF Analysis of Adolescent Deviance." Presented: University Park, PA, Society for the Study of Social Biology Meetings, 1993.
39. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Comparing Old NLSY Sibling Data to New NLSY Sibling Data: Sexuality and Fertility Patterns in the NLSY
Presented: New Orleans, LA, Population Association of America (PAA) 2008 Annual Meeting, April 17-19, 2008
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Age at Menarche/First Menstruation; Kinship; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The NLSY79 and the NLSY-Children surveys include all biological children in a sampled household, and have been the basis for many sibling studies (including behavior genetic studies). However, genetic relatedness of siblings in these surveys has never been assessed directly, through survey questions, but rather has been inferred with kinship algorithms (using external information about living relationships). The first direct assessments are now available in the 2006 datasets. In this study, I present descriptive analyses of the direct survey questions. Next, I present a matching analysis showing similarities and differences in the number of twins, full siblings, half siblings, cousins, and adoptive siblings across the two methods. Finally, I present analyses of female measures of age at first intercourse and age at menarche. These outcomes have been studied extensively using inferred links, and provide comparison of model-based results from the two approaches to ascertaining kinship relatedness.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee. "Comparing Old NLSY Sibling Data to New NLSY Sibling Data: Sexuality and Fertility Patterns in the NLSY." Presented: New Orleans, LA, Population Association of America (PAA) 2008 Annual Meeting, April 17-19, 2008.
40. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Does Having Boys (or Girls) "Run in the Family"?
Presented: Washington, DC, Population Association of America Meetings, March 1997
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Demography; Family Studies; Fertility; Genetics; Pairs (also see Siblings); Sex Ratios; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Many people believe that a tendency to have boys or girls rims in a family. But research in the statistical literature suggests that humans are notoriously bad at diagnosing random patterns. Are family sex composition patterns random or systematic? Three possible methodologies to detect such a bias are reviewed, including medical, demographic, and behavioral genetic studies. We use the last two strategies, along with the NLSY to study family patterns of sex composition. Our "Demographic Study" descriptively examines the sex composition patterns of the children born to the NLSY Youth through 1994 (when this sample is 29-36 years of age). Our "Behavior Genetic Study" uses a recently developed kinship linking algorithm for the NLSY-Youth to account for whether the sex ratios of children born to NLSY respondents are more similar among more highly related kinship pairs.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee. "Does Having Boys (or Girls) "Run in the Family"?" Presented: Washington, DC, Population Association of America Meetings, March 1997.
41. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Seasonality of Menarche Among U.S. Females
Presented: Cincinnati, OH, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1993
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Age at Menarche/First Menstruation; Childbearing; Data Quality/Consistency; Menarche/First Menstruation; Seasonality; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Recent interest in birth seasonality leads to research on the proximal and distal variables that could cause seasonality in birth distributions. Menarche is one such distal variable. Investigation of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) shows a strong summer peak in reported menarche among a representative sample of over 6000 U.S. women. The pattern is consistent across race and age. In addition, data on age at menarche are available as well. A theoretical structure is defined and tested linking month of menarche to subsequent coital activity and eventually to birth seasonality. Further, both age and month of menarche can be used to test a recent theory suggesting nonlinear (and thus seasonal) patterns in physiological growth.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee. "Seasonality of Menarche Among U.S. Females." Presented: Cincinnati, OH, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1993.
42. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Ang, Siew Ching
Beaujean, A. Alexander
Cooper-Twamley, Susan
Further Examination of the NLSY PIAT-Math and PPVT-R Items that Exhibit the Flynn Effect
Presented: Madrid, Spain, International Society for Intelligence Research 10th Annual Conference, December 17-19, 2009
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: International Society for Intelligence Research
Keyword(s): Flynn Effect; I.Q.; Intelligence Tests; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Test Scores/Test theory/IRT

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The corpus of Flynn Effect (FE) research has examined differences in aggregated IQ and IQ-equivalent scores over time, paying little attention to the items that comprise these scores. In doing so, they assume that all the items act very similarly, which may not be the case. Consequently, by not using item-level data, such studies do not analyze all the information available from a test administration. In the current paper we evaluate the Flynn Effect at the item level in PIAT-Math and PPVT-R from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth. Extending the work previously done by Rodgers and Ang (2008), this study compares the PIAT-Math items that Rodgers and Ang found to exhibit non-invariance over time using item-level unstandardized regression slopes with the PIAT-Math items Beaujean and Osterlind (2008) found to exhibit non-invariance over time using item response theory. Second, again following Rodgers and Ang, this study examines the item content of the PPVT-R items that Beaujean and Osterlind found to exhibit non-invariance over time. Preliminary analysis shows that many of the PPVT-R items that exhibited noninvariance were in the interpersonal domain, with a less strong relationship being found with items in the home (e.g., furniture, appliances) and environment (foliage, terrain) domains.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, Siew Ching Ang, A. Alexander Beaujean and Susan Cooper-Twamley. "Further Examination of the NLSY PIAT-Math and PPVT-R Items that Exhibit the Flynn Effect." Presented: Madrid, Spain, International Society for Intelligence Research 10th Annual Conference, December 17-19, 2009.
43. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Bard, David E.
Behavior Genetics and Adolescent Development: A Review of Recent Literature
In: Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence. G. Adams and M. Berzonsky, eds., Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, June 2003.
Also: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/content/BPL_Images/Content_store/Sample_chapter/063121920X/001.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Family Environment; Family Influences; Genetics; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Kinship; Modeling, Biometric; Psychological Effects; Siblings

Introduction to Chapter 1: Behavior genetics is a quantitative method, and adolescent development is a psychological topic. Treating the cross between these two arenas appears, at the surface, to require collecting research in which the method has been applied to study the topic, and reviewing that research for coherence and common themes. But the challenge is rather more difficult than the surface level view might suggest. Below the surface is a great deal of shifting sand, which makes organizing the topic difficult. Because of this instability, it is critical that we carefully and explicitly define a foundational starting point. In the introduction to this article, we begin with some definitions, and then we describe the difficulties inherent in reviewing "behavior genetics and adolescent development." We conclude our introduction with a summary of the foundation on which we will base our review. In the next section, we carefully build that foundation. Following, we summarize the relevant research, and embed it within the organizational foundation.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and David E. Bard. "Behavior Genetics and Adolescent Development: A Review of Recent Literature" In: Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence. G. Adams and M. Berzonsky, eds., Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, June 2003.
44. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Bard, David E.
Modeling NLSY Fertility Patterns Longitudinally and Biometrically: Evolutionary, Genetic, and Social Interpretations
Presented: Philadelphia, PA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, March-April 2005
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Fertility; Genetics; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using fertility patterns and kinship information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), we fit biometrical models to partition genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental variance associated with fertility differences in the NLSY females. Those females -- who were aged 35-42 in the 2000 data -- have mostly completed childbearing. Our model is a multivariate longitudinal model linking early fertility, early middle fertility, middle fertility, and late middle fertility. Our analysis shows different genetic sources underlying early and later fertility, and strong shared environmental influences only for early fertility. These findings are interpreted in relation to Fisher's Fundamental Theorem of Natural Selection, and also in relation to a theory developed by Udry (1995) explaining how the amount of reproductive choice constrains the link between fertility preferences and the biological expression of those preferences.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and David E. Bard. "Modeling NLSY Fertility Patterns Longitudinally and Biometrically: Evolutionary, Genetic, and Social Interpretations." Presented: Philadelphia, PA, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, March-April 2005.
45. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Bard, David E.
Johnson, Amber
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Miller, Warren B.
The Cross-Generational Mother–Daughter–Aunt–Niece Design: Establishing Validity of the MDAN Design with NLSY Fertility Variables
Behavior Genetics 38,6 (November 2008): 567-578.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/x75521h0l957w296/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Behavior; Fertility; Genetics; Inheritance; Kinship; Mothers and Daughters; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) fertility variables, we introduce and illustrate a new genetically-informative design. First, we develop a kinship linking algorithm, using the NLSY79 and the NLSY-Children data to link mothers to daughters and aunts to nieces. Then we construct mother–daughter correlations to compare to aunt–niece correlations, an MDAN design, within the context of the quantitative genetic model. The results of our empirical illustration, which uses DF Analysis and generalized estimation equations (GEE) to estimate biometrical parameters from NLSY79 sister–sister pairs and their children in the NLSY-Children dataset, provide both face validity and concurrent validity in support of the efficacy of the design. We describe extensions of the MDAN design. Compared to the typical within-generational design used in most behavior genetic research, the cross-generational feature of this design has certain advantages and interesting features. In particular, we note that the equal environment assumption of the traditional biometrical model shifts in the context of a cross-generational design. These shifts raise questions and provide motivation for future research using the MDAN and other cross-generational designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David E. Bard, Amber Johnson, Brian M. D'Onofrio and Warren B. Miller. "The Cross-Generational Mother–Daughter–Aunt–Niece Design: Establishing Validity of the MDAN Design with NLSY Fertility Variables." Behavior Genetics 38,6 (November 2008): 567-578.
46. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Bard, David E.
Miller, Warren B.
Mother-Daughter-Aunt-Niece (MDAN) Design, Applied to Cross-Generational NLSY
Presented: Storrs, CT, Behavior Genetics Association, 36th Annual Annual Conference, June 2006
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Age at Menarche/First Menstruation; Genetics; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Mothers and Daughters; Self-Reporting

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A new biometrical design – called the MDAN design – emerges from the complex longitudinal survey design of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) data. Using the crossgenerational structure available in the NLSY, we link mothers to daughters and aunts to nieces, creating an MDAN (mother-daughter-aunt-niece) design. The cross-generational data include NLSY-females who are only mothers, those who are only aunts, and those who are both mothers and aunts. Further, there is within-generational biometrical information linking NLSY-Youth females to one another as cousins, half-siblings, full-siblings, and twins; and linking NLSYChildren females to one another as cousins, half siblings, full siblings, and twins. We create linking files identifying the various within- and between-generational links, and fit preliminary biometrical models using those links. Phenotypes are fertility variables, typically measured across the two generations at approximately the same age and using identical measurement instruments. Specific measures on which we focus include self-reported age at menarche and self-reported age at first intercourse. Previous research using biometrical models have studied these phenotypes within each generation; the current research substantially extends both the empirical results and the methodological innovation by taking advantage of the ability to fit three different types of genetically- and environmentally-informed structure simultaneously.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David E. Bard and Warren B. Miller. "Mother-Daughter-Aunt-Niece (MDAN) Design, Applied to Cross-Generational NLSY." Presented: Storrs, CT, Behavior Genetics Association, 36th Annual Annual Conference, June 2006.
47. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Bard, David E.
Miller, Warren B.
Multivariate Cholesky Models of Human Female Fertility Patterns in the NLSY
Behavior Genetics 37,2 (March 2007): 345-361.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/mt8j270588g24168/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Fertility; Genetics; Life Course; Modeling, Multilevel; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Substantial evidence now exists that variables measuring or correlated with human fertility outcomes have a heritable component. In this study, we define a series of age-sequenced fertility variables, and fit multivariate models to account for underlying shared genetic and environmental sources of variance. We make predictions based on a theory developed by Udry [(1996) Biosocial models of low-fertility societies. In: Casterline, JB, Lee RD, Foote KA (eds) Fertility in the United States: new patterns, new theories. The Population Council, New York] suggesting that biological/genetic motivations can be more easily realized and measured in settings in which fertility choices are available. Udry's theory, along with principles from molecular genetics and certain tenets of life history theory, allow us to make specific predictions about biometrical patterns across age. Consistent with predictions, our results suggest that there are different sources of genetic influence on fertility variance at early compared to later ages, but that there is only one source of shared environmental influence that occurs at early ages. These patterns are suggestive of the types of gene–gene and gene–environment interactions for which we must account to better understand individual differences in fertility outcomes.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David E. Bard and Warren B. Miller. "Multivariate Cholesky Models of Human Female Fertility Patterns in the NLSY." Behavior Genetics 37,2 (March 2007): 345-361.
48. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Beasley, William H.
Bard, David E.
Meredith, Kelly M.
Hunter, Michael D.
Johnson, Amber
Buster, Maury Allen
Li, Chengchang
The NLSY Kinship Links: Using the NLSY79 and NLSY-Children Data to Conduct Genetically-Informed and Family-Oriented Research
Behavior Genetics 46,4 (July 2016): 538-551.
Also: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10519-016-9785-3
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Body Mass Index (BMI); Data Quality/Consistency; Genetics; Height; Intergenerational Patterns/Transmission; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Siblings; Weight

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth datasets (NLSY79; NLSY-Children/Young Adults; NLSY97) have extensive family pedigree information contained within them. These data sources are based on probability sampling, a longitudinal design, and a cross-generational and within-family data structure, with hundreds of phenotypes relevant to behavior genetic (BG) researchers, as well as to other developmental and family researchers. These datasets provide a unique and powerful source of information for BG researchers. But much of the information required for biometrical modeling has been hidden, and has required substantial programming effort to uncover--until recently. Our research team has spent over 20 years developing kinship links to genetically inform biometrical modeling. In the most recent release of kinship links from two of the NLSY datasets, the direct kinship indicators included in the 2006 surveys allowed successful and unambiguous linking of over 94 % of the potential pairs. In this paper, we provide details for research teams interested in using the NLSY data portfolio to conduct BG (and other family-oriented) research.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, William H. Beasley, David E. Bard, Kelly M. Meredith, Michael D. Hunter, Amber Johnson, Maury Allen Buster and Chengchang Li. "The NLSY Kinship Links: Using the NLSY79 and NLSY-Children Data to Conduct Genetically-Informed and Family-Oriented Research." Behavior Genetics 46,4 (July 2016): 538-551.
49. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Buster, Maury Allen
Seasonality of Menarche Among U.S. Females: Correlates and Linkages
In: Human Reproductive Ecology: Interactions of Environment, Fertility, Behavior. K. Campbell and J. Wood, eds. New York, NY: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 709, Number 1, February 18, 1994: p. 196.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1749-6632.1994.tb30398.x/pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: New York Academy of Sciences
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Childbearing; Data Quality/Consistency; Genetics; Hispanics; Menarche/First Menstruation; Physical Characteristics; Rural/Urban Differences; Seasonality; Self-Esteem; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Papers presented at a conference held in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, 21-24 May, 1993

This paper documents a strong seasonal pattern in month of first menstruation among U.S. females, and searches for explanations of the pattern. Most previous research on seasonality of menarche has occurred using European data, where peaks have been observed in both summer and winter. Elevation, light, and urban/rural status have been suggested as possible explanatory variables. Frequencies of self-reported month of menarche are computed for 6000 women in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. When these data were disaggregated by race, June/July remained the peak for menarche across Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics. This consistent pattern begs for an explanation. Correlations between a menarche dummy variable and other variables from three different domains were computed: Physical characteristics, personality measures, and family characteristics. Several of these correlations were significantly different from 0, but none were large enough to be impressive. Kinship structure in the NLSY dataset were used to partition variability into genetic and shared environmental sources. In this analysis, females who were more closely related to one another were more likely to be similar in their menarche seasonality. In summary, the study documented a strong summer peak in first menstruation. Kinship patterns suggested a biological basis. Correlations with physical, personality, and family variables were trivially small.

Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and Maury Allen Buster. "Seasonality of Menarche Among U.S. Females: Correlates and Linkages" In: Human Reproductive Ecology: Interactions of Environment, Fertility, Behavior. K. Campbell and J. Wood, eds. New York, NY: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 709, Number 1, February 18, 1994: p. 196.
50. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Buster, Maury Allen
Rowe, David C.
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Delinquency: DF Analysis of NLSY Kinship Data
Journal of Quantitative Criminology 17,2 (June 2001): 145-168.
Also: http://www.springerlink.com/content/t7n3h10664827068/
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Plenum Publishing Corporation
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Family Environment; Family Influences; Genetics; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) (see Self-Esteem); Rotter Scale (see Locus of Control); Siblings

This paper follows earlier research (Rowe et al., 1992) in evaluating the basis of family influences on adolescent delinquent behavior. Delinquency is measured in a number of different ways to account for important theoretical distinctions that exist in the delinquency literature. We use recently identified kinship structure in a large national data set--the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth--to estimate genetic and shared environmental influences on self-reported delinquency scores. Our analytic model is based on DF analysis, a regression procedure used to estimate parameters reflecting genetic and environmental influence. Results suggest a consistent and moderate genetic basis to sibling similarity in delinquency and little evidence of a shared environmental basis. A large amount of variance is attributable to nonshared influences and/or measurement error. Our findings suggest that the search for environmental influences on adolescent delinquency should focus on those that are not shared by siblings.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, Maury Allen Buster and David C. Rowe. "Genetic and Environmental Influences on Delinquency: DF Analysis of NLSY Kinship Data." Journal of Quantitative Criminology 17,2 (June 2001): 145-168.
51. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Cleveland, Hobart Harrington
van den Oord, Edwin J. C. G.
Rowe, David C.
Birth Order and Intelligence: Together Again for the Last Time?
American Psychologist 56,6-7 (June-July 2001): 523-524.
Also: http://content.apa.org/journals/amp/56/6-7/523.pdf
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Birth Order; Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Family Size; I.Q.; Intelligence

Responds to comments by R. L. Michalski and T. K. Shackelford (see record 2001-17729-012), D. J. Armor (see record 2001-17729-013), and R. B. Zajonc (see record 2001-17729-014) on the authors' original article (see record 2000-15774-002) that examines the use of within-family models in studies of the relationship between birth order and intelligence. In the aforementioned article, the authors concluded that although low-IQ parents have been making large families, large families do not make low-IQ children in modern US society. In this comment, the authors note that none of the comments do any ultimate damage to the methodological resolution proposed in their original article. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved)
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, Hobart Harrington Cleveland, Edwin J. C. G. van den Oord and David C. Rowe. "Birth Order and Intelligence: Together Again for the Last Time? ." American Psychologist 56,6-7 (June-July 2001): 523-524.
52. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Cleveland, Hobart Harrington
van den Oord, Edwin J. C. G.
Rowe, David C.
Resolving the Debate Over Birth Order, Family Size, and Intelligence
American Psychologist 55,6 (June 2000): 599-612
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Birth Order; Family Size; Family Studies; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Siblings

Hundreds of research articles have addressed the relationship between birth order and intelligence. Virtually all have used cross-sectional data, which are fundamentally flawed in the assessment of within-family (including birth order) processes. Although within-family models have been based on patterns in cross-sectional data, a number of equally plausible between-family explanations also exist. Within-family (preferably intact-family) data are prerequisite for separating within- and between-family causal processes. This observation reframes an old issue in a way that can easily be addressed by studying graphical patterns. Sibling data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are evaluated, and the results are compared with those from other studies using within-family data. It appears that although low-IQ parents have been making large families, large families do not make low-IQ children in modern U.S. society. The apparent relation between birth order and intelligence has been a methodological illusion.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, Hobart Harrington Cleveland, Edwin J. C. G. van den Oord and David C. Rowe. "Resolving the Debate Over Birth Order, Family Size, and Intelligence." American Psychologist 55,6 (June 2000): 599-612.
53. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Doughty, Debby
Does Having Boys or Girls Run in the Family?
Chance 14,4 (Fall 2001): 8-13
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Family Studies; Fertility; Genetics; Kinship; Modeling; Pairs (also see Siblings); Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The data on which our results are based come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), a national survey with excellent family information. Our behavioral genetic study will compare respondents with different levels of relatedness to determine whether more closely related women are more similar in their children's sex composition than those more distantly related. We used twins, full siblings, half siblings, and cousin pairs -- all the pairs of which lived together in the same household -- to compare kinship kinship correlations indexing kinship similarity. If kinship pairs with higher genetic relatedness (e.g., twins) are more similar to one another than those with lower genetic relatedness (e.g., cousins), then this pattern is suggestive of a genetic influence. Our demographic study will compare sex composition patterns from the NLSY respondents to those that would be expected by chance. The model that will be fit explicitly distinguishes between stopping behavior caused by sex composition and the probability of a particular sex. These analyses will suggest whether certain patterns occur more often than chance can explain (e.g., whether there are more 'boy-biased' or 'girl-biased' families than would be expected under a binomial model).
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and Debby Doughty. "Does Having Boys or Girls Run in the Family?" Chance 14,4 (Fall 2001): 8-13.
54. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Doughty, Debby
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Fertility Expectations and Outcomes Using NLSY Kinship Data
In: Genetic Influences on Human Fertility and Sexuality. J. L. Rodgers, et al., eds. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Keyword(s): Fertility; Genetics; Kinship; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Reproduction

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

There has been recent interest in the research literature concerning the potential for genetic influences on fertility-related behaviors. Fisher's (1930) well-known theorem suggesting that the heritability of fertility-linked behaviors must eventually disappear (e.g., Plomin, DeFries, & McClearn, 1990) runs counter to a number of empirical findings concerning sexuality and fertility behaviors. Miller has recently developed a framework (Miller et al, 1999b) that casts fertility outcomes into the bigger context of fertility desires and expectations. We draw on this framework to investigate the role of broad genetic and environmental influences on a number of fertility attitudes, and link those to fertility outcomes. Our data come from recently defined kinship structure from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, and thus provide a large national sample in which to investigate these issues. Our findings suggest that both fertility expectations and desires have a heritable component, and virtually no shared environmental component. However, expectations have a systematically higher level of genetic influence than outcomes. These findings are both readily interpretable within previous frameworks, and also can be used to general future research agendas.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and Debby Doughty. "Genetic and Environmental Influences on Fertility Expectations and Outcomes Using NLSY Kinship Data" In: Genetic Influences on Human Fertility and Sexuality. J. L. Rodgers, et al., eds. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2000
55. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Garrison, S. Mason
O'Keefe, Patrick
Bard, David E.
Hunter, Michael D.
Beasley, William H.
van den Oord, Edwin J. C. G.
Responding to a 100-Year-Old Challenge from Fisher: A Biometrical Analysis of Adult Height in the NLSY Data Using Only Cousin Pairs
Behavior Genetics 49,5 (September 2019): 444-454. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10519-019-09967-6
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Family, Extended; Height; Kinship

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In 1918, Fisher suggested that his research team had consistently found inflated cousin correlations. He also commented that because a cousin sample with minimal selection bias was not available the cause of the inflation could not be addressed, leaving this inflation as a challenge still to be solved. In the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (the NLSY79, the NLSY97, and the NLSY-Children/Young Adult datasets), there are thousands of available cousin pairs. Those in the NLSYC/YA are obtained approximately without selection. In this paper, we address Fisher's challenge using these data. Further, we also evaluate the possibility of fitting ACE models using only cousin pairs, including full cousins, half-cousins, and quarter-cousins. To have any chance at success in such a restricted kinship domain requires an available and highly-reliable phenotype; we use adult height in our analysis. Results provide a possible answer to Fisher's challenge, and demonstrate the potential for using cousin pairs in a stand-alone analysis (as well as in combination with other biometrical designs).
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, S. Mason Garrison, Patrick O'Keefe, David E. Bard, Michael D. Hunter, William H. Beasley and Edwin J. C. G. van den Oord. "Responding to a 100-Year-Old Challenge from Fisher: A Biometrical Analysis of Adult Height in the NLSY Data Using Only Cousin Pairs." Behavior Genetics 49,5 (September 2019): 444-454. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10519-019-09967-6.
56. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Garrison, Sarah Mason
Hadd, Alexandria
Intelligence and Fertility in the NLSY79 Respondents: Children of Siblings and Biometrical Models
Presented: Charlottesville VA, Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) Annual Meeting, June 2014
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Age at First Intercourse; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Genetics; I.Q.; Intelligence; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The current study uses the family structure of the original National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) dataset to evaluate several questions related to fertility outcomes. Recent work using both the NLSY79 and the NLSY-Children data has taken advantage of the kinship links in these surveys to control for family history—both genetic and environmental—using a Children of Siblings (COS) design. The NLSY79 females have recently completed childbearing, and the males have virtually completed childbearing (respondents were age 47–55 in the most recently released 2012 survey). We use a COS design in which we separate NLSY79 respondents into two categories; the first group consists of the higher-IQ sibling (as measured using the Armed Forces Qualifying Test), the second consists of the lower-IQ sibling. We separate these analyses into father-father, mother-mother, and cross-gender categories. We run the following analyses. First, we compare the two groups on several fertility variables, including age at first intercourse, age at first birth, and completed fertility. This analysis assesses the size and direction of fitness status of IQ in this dataset. Second, we estimate several biometrical models that assess the biometrical status of the fertility outcomes in relation to maternal intelligence. We compare unconditional biometrical parameters to those conditioned on intelligence differences between the NLSY79 siblings. If the h2, c2, and e2 values are similar, then intelligence does not condition the biometrical structure of fertility outcomes. If they are statistically different, then intelligence is implicated as moderating the biometrical structure of fertility.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, Sarah Mason Garrison and Alexandria Hadd. "Intelligence and Fertility in the NLSY79 Respondents: Children of Siblings and Biometrical Models." Presented: Charlottesville VA, Behavior Genetics Association (BGA) Annual Meeting, June 2014.
57. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Gissberg, Linda
Identification of a Flynn Effect in the NLSY: Moving from the Center to the Boundaries
Working Paper, Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, 2005
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma
Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Flynn Effect; I.Q.; Intelligence; Memory for Digit Span (WISC) - also see Digit Span; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Tests and Testing

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The Flynn Effect (Flynn, 1984) is an annual increase in IQ of around .33 points per year observed in developed countries during the past century. It emerges from problem solving and non-verbal components of IQ. The cause has been argued, and a number of theories proposed. Rodgers (1998) noted that the search for causes has preceded specification of the nature of the effect. We use a large national sample of U.S. children to test for the Flynn Effect in PIAT Math, PIAT Reading Recognition, PIAT Reading Comprehension, Digit Span, and PPVT. An effect of the predicted magnitude was observed for nationally normed scores on each outcome, and on PIAT Math when maternal IQ was controlled. This finding in a large representative sample with thousands of variables opens the door to test a number of different hypotheses about the nature of and the causes of the Flynn Effect in both environmental and biological domains.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and Linda Gissberg. "Identification of a Flynn Effect in the NLSY: Moving from the Center to the Boundaries." Working Paper, Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, 2005.
58. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Harris, David F.
Vickers, Karen Bradley
Seasonality of First Coitus in the U.S.
Social Biology 39 (Spring-Summer 1992): 1-14.
Also: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1514113
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Society for the Study of Social Biology
Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Household Composition; Seasonality; Sexual Activity; Sexual Experiences/Virginity; Transition, School to Work

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Recent attention to causes of seasonality of births leads to an interest in seasonality patterns in the antecedents to birth, including gestational length, conception, and coital activity. In this paper we study the beginning of the process: first intercourse among adolescents and young adults. Analysis of a small and local dataset is suggestive that loss of virginity is particularly likely during the summer. A test of this "Summer Vacation Theory" using a large national dataset supports the generality of the phenomenon. Further, a prediction that seasonality patterns will change during the transition from high school to work and college is tested and supported. The existence of both biological and psycho-social mechanisms is suggested. Policy implications are reviewed.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David F. Harris and Karen Bradley Vickers. "Seasonality of First Coitus in the U.S." Social Biology 39 (Spring-Summer 1992): 1-14.
59. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Hughes, Kimberly
Kohler, Hans-Peter
Christensen, Kaare
Doughty, Debby
Rowe, David C.
Miller, Warren B.
Genetic Influence Helps Explain Variation in Human Fertility: Evidence from Recent Behavioral and Molecular Genetic Studies
Current Directions in Psychological Science 10, 5 (October 2001): 184-188
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing, Inc. => Wiley Online
Keyword(s): Fertility; Genetics

To search for genetic influence on human fertility differentials appears inconsistent with past empirical research and prior interpretations of Fisher's fundamental theorem of natural selection. We discuss Fisher's theorem and give reasons why genetic influences may indeed account for individual differences in human fertility. We review recent empirical studies showing genetic influence on variance in fertility outcomes and precursors to fertility. Further, some of the genetic variance underlying fertility outcomes overlaps with that underlying fertility precursors. Findings from different cultures, different times, different levels of data, and both behavioral and molecular genetic designs lead to the same conclusion: Fertility differentials are genetically influenced, and at least part of the influence derives from behavioral precursors that are under volitional control, which are themselves genetically mediated.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, Kimberly Hughes, Hans-Peter Kohler, Kaare Christensen, Debby Doughty, David C. Rowe and Warren B. Miller. "Genetic Influence Helps Explain Variation in Human Fertility: Evidence from Recent Behavioral and Molecular Genetic Studies." Current Directions in Psychological Science 10, 5 (October 2001): 184-188.
60. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Johnson, Amber
Bard, David E.
Inferring Sibling Relatedness from the NLSY Youth and Children Data: Past, Present, and Future Prospects
Presented: Los Angeles, CA, Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meetings, March-April 2006
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Genetics; Height; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Siblings; Weight

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In a number of disciplinary arenas related to demography, the distinction between full, half, and adoptive siblings is highly relevant. Behavioral genetics requires information about genetic and environmental relatedness to fit biometrical models. Socialization researchers infer expected commitment -- and predicted social learning -- from these sibling categories. Family structure researchers rely on these distinctions as inputs to their models. However, despite its remarkable features and innovations, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data do not explicitly distinguish between full, half, and adoptive silbings. We report on our several kinship linking algorithms that infer sibling relatedness from other information in the NLSY and NLSYC. Internal validation procedures use height and weight information, and concurrent validity indicators compare NLSY sibling results to other sibling studies. Past successes and the current status of these efforts are reviewed, and plans to collect explicit sibling information for the NLSY is reported.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, Amber Johnson and David E. Bard. "Inferring Sibling Relatedness from the NLSY Youth and Children Data: Past, Present, and Future Prospects." Presented: Los Angeles, CA, Population Association of America (PAA) Annual Meetings, March-April 2006.
61. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
O'Keefe, Patrick
A Synthetic Theory to Integrate and Explain the Causes of the Flynn Effect: The Parental Executive Model
Intelligence 98 (May-June 2023): 101740.
Also: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289623000211
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Flynn Effect; Home Environment; Intelligence; Parental Influences

The Flynn effect is one of the most interesting puzzles in psychology. Measured intelligence increased worldwide for a century, primarily in the fluid domain. Some increases may be flattening and/or reversing. Around 20 theories have been developed to explain the Flynn effect; most have empirical or conceptual weaknesses, though they also have strengths and face validity. The role of parents has been given only slight attention in past theorizing. We propose a new synthetic theory, the Parental Executive Model (the PEM) that integrates, organizes, and takes advantage of most previous theories. To structure our paper, we begin with a description of synthetic theories, and how to evaluate them (which has unique and difficult challenges). Following, we review the Flynn effect, and briefly summarize the new theory. Next, recent research is reviewed suggesting the value of re-conceptualizing the location of the Flynn effect to focus on families, and parents. Following, we describe the PEM, which states that parents -- and teachers, authors, friends, etc. -- use their agency to manage children's intellectual growth. The PEM posits that many (not all) parents subjectively optimize their children's intellectual outcomes, taking advantage of some subset of available resources -- nutrition, education, technology, health care, etc. Cross-generational momentum occurs as parenting improves across generations. Prior research motivating the PEM is reviewed, and methods to evaluate the PEM are discussed. Finally, one recent empirical evaluation of the PEM is reviewed, that the cognitive home environment has been improving over time.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and Patrick O'Keefe. "A Synthetic Theory to Integrate and Explain the Causes of the Flynn Effect: The Parental Executive Model." Intelligence 98 (May-June 2023): 101740.
62. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
Problem Behaviors in Childhood: Behavior-Genetics Modeling of National Data
Presented: Denver, CO, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1992
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavioral Problems; Child Development; Children, Behavioral Development; Genetics; Home Environment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Kinship; Parental Influences; Siblings; Slutsky Matrix

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Using the NLSY child-mother data, the authors link Behavioral Problem Index scores for a large number of siblings and cousins and a smaller number of twins and second-cousins. With a behavior-genetics method from DeFries and Fulcher (1985), indicators of kinship similarity and differences are analyzed into sources attributable to heredity, common environment, and a residual that represents a combination of unique environment and measurement error. This residual is further analyzed to locate specific sources of unique environmental effects. When the residuals correlate with individual-level features of the home environment (as measured by the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment -- HOME --inventory), these features are implicated as possible sources that create differences between siblings that can lead to differences in their childhood behavior problems. Such measures include ones related to parental attention, parental discipline, and intellectual stimulation.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and David C. Rowe. "Problem Behaviors in Childhood: Behavior-Genetics Modeling of National Data." Presented: Denver, CO, Population Association of America Meetings, April 1992.
63. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
Social Contagion and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: A Developmental EMOSA Model
Psychological Review 100,3 (July 1993): 479-510
Cohort(s): NLS General
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Epidemiology; Modeling; Sexual Activity; Sexual Experiences/Virginity

Epidemic Models of the Onset of Social Activities (EMOSA models) describe the spread of adolescent transition behaviors (e.g., sexuality, smoking, drinking) through an interacting adolescent network. A theory of social contagion is defined to explain how social influence affects sexual development. Contacts within a network can, with some transition rate or probability, result in an increase in level of sexual experience. Five stages of sexual development are posited. One submodel proposes a systematic progression through these stages; a competing submodel treats each as an independent process. These models are represented in sets of dynamically interacting recursive equations, which are fit to empirical prevalence data to estimate parameters. Model adjustments are substantively interpretable and can be used to test for and better understand social interaction processes that affect adolescent sexual behavior. ((c) 1997 APA/PsycINFO, all rights reserved)
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and David C. Rowe. "Social Contagion and Adolescent Sexual Behavior: A Developmental EMOSA Model." Psychological Review 100,3 (July 1993): 479-510.
64. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
Buster, Maury Allen
Nature, Nurture and First Sexual Intercourse in the USA: Fitting Behavioural Genetic Models to NLSY Kinship Data
Journal of Biosocial Science 31,1 (January 1999): 29-41.
Also: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=10230&jid=JBS&volumeId=31&issueId=01&aid=10229
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Age at First Intercourse; Genetics; Kinship; Locus of Control (see Rotter Scale); Pairs (also see Siblings); Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) (see Self-Esteem); Rotter Scale (see Locus of Control); Self-Esteem; Sexual Experiences/Virginity; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Fisher (1930) presented both theoretical and empirical results concerning genetic influences on fertility. Since then, only sparse research has been done on the genetics of fertility, although more sophisticated methodogy and data now exist than were available to Fisher. This paper presents a behavioural genetic analysis of age at first intercourse, accounting for genetic, shared environmental, and selected non-shared environmental influences. The data came from the nationally representative National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). A newly developed kinship linking procedure was used that identifies links for cousins, half-siblings, full-siblings and twins in the NLSY. The results suggest a genetic influence in the overall dataset, and also among whites and in male–male and opposite-sex pairs. Genetic influences were extremely small or non-existent for blacks and for female–female pairs. Shared environmental influences were small for most subsets of the data, but moderate for female–female pairs. Two specific non-shared environmental influences – self-esteem and locus of control – were ruled out as accounting for any meaningful variance, although other general sources of non[hyphen]shared environmental influence appear potentially important. Analysis of selected samples from upper and lower tails suggested that genetic influences are important in accounting for both early and late non-virginity. These findings are consistent with work reported by Miller et al. (1999), who used molecular genetic methods. Generally, these findings support the existence of genetic influences and implicate non-shared environmental influences as being important determinants of the timing of loss of virginity among US adolescents and young adults.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David C. Rowe and Maury Allen Buster. "Nature, Nurture and First Sexual Intercourse in the USA: Fitting Behavioural Genetic Models to NLSY Kinship Data ." Journal of Biosocial Science 31,1 (January 1999): 29-41.
65. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
Buster, Maury Allen
Nature, Nurture, and First Intercourse: Fitting Behavior Genetic Models to NLSY Kinship Data
Presented: New Orleans, LA, Meetings of the Population Association of America, May 1996
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Adolescent Fertility; Adoption; Age at First Intercourse; Contraception; Gender Differences; Genetics; Kinship; Modeling; Pairs (also see Siblings); Peers/Peer influence/Peer relations; Sexual Behavior; Siblings; Simultaneity

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Newcomer (1994) stated that "Partners, peers, parents (maybe even genes) and the community all influence [adolescent sexual] behavior" (p. 85). Udry and Campbell (1994) surveyed the literature and found only one small study that accounted for genetic influences on adolescent sexual behavior. Apparently, little research has been done to address the role that genetic influences play in various aspects of fertility behavior, or the tradeoff between genetic and environmental influences. Udry's work (e.g., Udry, 1988) suggests an important role of hormonal influences in both male and female sexual behavior, and biosocial models of adolescent sexuality are becoming increasingly popular (e.g., Hofferth, 1987; Rodgers & Rowe, 1993; Udry, 1988). Fisher's (1930) work raised doubts as to whether it would ever be fruitful to search for genetic influences on fertility behavior. Plomin, DeFries, and McClearn (1990), drawing on work by Fisher and Falconer (1981), explained that potential changes in relative fitness across generations due to a particular trait can be measured by the amount of additive genetic variance in that trait present in the population. They concluded that we should "expect heritability to be low for major components of fitness, such as fertility" (p. 285), and suggest that most genetic variance in such traits should be nonadditive. However, this expectation depends on a long enough period of time that traits with selective advantage can realize that advantage. Our investigation will treat age at first sexual intercourse in the U.S. population. During the past several centuries, there have been secular changes--both up and down--in the age at first intercourse. Furthermore, the development of reliable and widespread use of effective contraception must weaken the selective advantage offered by early onset of sexual behavior in societies with little or no contraceptive use. Such changes could certainly act to weaken the selective value of early onset of sexual activity. Given these changes, it is an important theoretical question to ask whether genes play a role in influencing onset of sexual behavior. At the same time, the role of environmental influences is also of particular interest and importance. Our modeling will simultaneously address the role of both types of influence. The data we will use to address the role of genetic and environmental influences on age at first intercourse come from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (the NLSY), a national probability sample of households that started with approximately 12,000 youth aged 14-21 in 1979. To separate the contribution of genetic versus environmental influences requires data from different kinship levels (e.g., monozygotic versus dizygotic twins; adoptive siblings versus full siblings; etc.). Little of this type of information is contained explicitly in the NLSY, although the household structure of the NLSY data results in many kinship links being contained in the data. We have recently developed a linking algorithm (Rodgers, 1996) that uses several variables in the NLSY files to classify kinship pairs into adoptive, half, and full sibling, twin, and cousin pairs. We will use this kinship structure along with a recently developed regression procedure, DF Analysis, (DeFries and Fulker, 1985; Rodgers, Rowe & Li, 1993) to analyze variance in age at first intercourse into that attributable to genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental influences. Because patterns of sexual debut differ substantially across race and across genders, we will fit our models separately by these demographic categories.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David C. Rowe and Maury Allen Buster. "Nature, Nurture, and First Intercourse: Fitting Behavior Genetic Models to NLSY Kinship Data." Presented: New Orleans, LA, Meetings of the Population Association of America, May 1996.
66. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
Buster, Maury Allen
Social Contagion, Adolescent Sexual Behavior, and Pregnancy: A Nonlinear Dynamic EMOSA Model
Developmental Psychology 34,5 (September 1998): 1096-1113.
Also: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/34/5/1096/
Cohort(s): NLS General
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Alcohol Use; Cigarette Use (see Smoking); Delinquency/Gang Activity; Fertility; Modeling; Pregnancy, Adolescent; Sexual Behavior

Nonlinear dynamic modeling has useful developmental applications. The authors introduce this class of models and contrast them with traditional linear models. Epidemic models of the onset of social activities (EMOSA models) are a special case, motivated by J. L. Rodgers and D. C. Rowe's (1993) social contagion theory, which predict the spread of adolescent behaviors like smoking, drinking, delinquency, and sexuality. In this article, a biological outcome, pregnancy, is added to an earlier EMOSA sexuality model. Parameters quantify likelihood of pregnancy for girls of different sexuality statuses. Five different sexuality/pregnancy models compete to explain variance in national prevalence curves. One finding was that, in the context of the authors' simplified model, adolescent girls have an approximately constant probability of pregnancy across age and time since virginity. Copyright: 1995 by the American Psychological Association, Inc.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David C. Rowe and Maury Allen Buster. "Social Contagion, Adolescent Sexual Behavior, and Pregnancy: A Nonlinear Dynamic EMOSA Model." Developmental Psychology 34,5 (September 1998): 1096-1113.
67. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
Harris, David F.
Older Sibling Influence on Adolescent Sexuality: Inferring Process Models from Family Composition Patterns
Presented: Toronto, Canada, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, 1990
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Household Composition; Sexual Activity; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David C. Rowe and David F. Harris. "Older Sibling Influence on Adolescent Sexuality: Inferring Process Models from Family Composition Patterns." Presented: Toronto, Canada, Population Association of America Annual Meeting, 1990.
68. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
Harris, David F.
Sibling Differences in Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Inferring Process Models from Family Composition Patterns
Journal of Marriage and Family 54,1 (February 1992): 142-152.
Also: http://www.jstor.org/stable/353282
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: National Council on Family Relations
Keyword(s): Hispanics; Household Composition; Sexual Activity; Siblings

To account for previous research findings that younger siblings are sexually active at an earlier age than older siblings, the hypothesis is tested that older siblings influence younger siblings to be sexually active. Opportunity & modeling influence processes are examined, using national survey data collected in 1979 from 3,336 families with siblings, but are not demonstrated to be strong predictors. An alternate maturation hypothesis is supported by findings that younger siblings physically mature earlier, but it is argued that this biological explanation does not account for variations in Hispanic populations. Other psychosocial explanations are discussed. 2 Tables, 34 References. C. McSherry (Copyright 1997, Sociological Abstracts, Inc., all rights reserved.)
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David C. Rowe and David F. Harris. "Sibling Differences in Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Inferring Process Models from Family Composition Patterns." Journal of Marriage and Family 54,1 (February 1992): 142-152.
69. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
Li, Chengchang
Beyond Nature Versus Nurture: DF Analysis of Nonshared Influences on Problem Behaviors
Developmental Psychology 30,3 (May 1994):374-384.
Also: http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/dev/30/3/374/
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Childbearing; Height, Height-Weight Ratios; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); I.Q.; Kinship; Siblings

DeFries and Fulker (1985) proposed a regression modeling approach -- since named DF Analysis -- that separates heredity and common environmental influences using scores from kinship pairs. A number of adaptations have been developed and used in empirical research that demonstrate the breadth of application of DF Analysis. We begin by reviewing past work and the several DF Analysis extensions that have been suggested. Following, we describe a new extension of DF Analysis in which measured indicators of the nonshared environment are added to the model. These indicators represent specific sources of environmental influence that cause related children to be different from one another. We present two empirical studies using over 7000 5-11 year-old children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Within the NLSY we identify twin, full-sibling, half-sibling, and cousin pairs. The first study is a validity analysis of kinship height and weight data. The second study demonstrates the nonshared environmental extension through an analysis of problem behavior scores. Specific nonshared environmental influences that are investigated are spanking by the mother, reading by the mother, and quality of the home environment.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David C. Rowe and Chengchang Li. "Beyond Nature Versus Nurture: DF Analysis of Nonshared Influences on Problem Behaviors." Developmental Psychology 30,3 (May 1994):374-384.
70. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
May, Kim
DF Analysis of NLSY IQ/Achievement Data: Nonshared Environmental Influences
Working Paper, Norman OK: Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, March 1994
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma
Keyword(s): Cognitive Ability; Genetics; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Kinship; Memory for Digit Span (WISC) - also see Digit Span; Methods/Methodology; Pairs (also see Siblings); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings; Simultaneity

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

DeFries and Fulker (1985) proposed DF Analysis to measure genetic and shared environmental variance in kinship data. We use an adaptation of DF Analysis that can simultaneously account for genetic, shared environmental, and nonshared environmental influences within the same model. We fit this model to achievement measures from 5 to 12-year-old children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). The NLSY is a large national sample containing information to link kinship pairs at multiple levels, including cousins, half-siblings, full-siblings, and twins. 1044 pairs were identified by a kinship linking algorithm. The modeling approach measures heritability (h2) and shared environmental variance (c2), and tests for nonshared environmental influences. Potential nonshared influences that are tested include amount a mother reads to a child, books the child has, visits to the museum, visits to the theater, maternal spanking, and a general measure of the quality of the home environment. Several theoretical predictions are tested and supported. In particular, museum visits accounted for variance in a math test, books owned accounted for variance in reading recognition scores, and a general measure of the home environment accounted for variance in general cognitive ability.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David C. Rowe and Kim May. "DF Analysis of NLSY IQ/Achievement Data: Nonshared Environmental Influences." Working Paper, Norman OK: Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, March 1994.
71. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Rowe, David C.
May, Kim
DF Analysis of NLSY IQ/Achievement Data: Nonshared Environmental Influences
Intelligence 19,2 (September-October 1994): 157-177.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0160289694900116
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: Economics Department, Moore School of Business, University of Soutn Carolina
Keyword(s): Children; Cognitive Ability; Genetics; Home Environment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); I.Q.; Intelligence; Kinship; Memory for Digit Span (WISC) - also see Digit Span; Methods/Methodology; Modeling; Pairs (also see Siblings); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT); Siblings; Simultaneity

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

An adaptation of DF (DeFries and Fulker, 1985) is fitted to achievement measures from 5-12-year-old children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). This adaptation can simultaneously account for genetic shared environmental, and non shared environmental influences within the same model. The NLSY contains information to link kinship pairs at multiple levels including cousins, half-siblings, full-siblings, and twins. One thousand forty-four pairs were identified by a kinship-linking algorithm. From five specific measures of intellectual ability we estimated median heritability. We then tested for the presence of several specific non shared influences. As predicted differences between two related children in the number of books owned were related to differences in reading recognition scores and trips to the museum were related to a measure of mathematical ability. A general measure of the home environment accounted for non shared environmental variance in several specific measures of intelligence and in a general measure of cognitive ability.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, David C. Rowe and Kim May. "DF Analysis of NLSY IQ/Achievement Data: Nonshared Environmental Influences." Intelligence 19,2 (September-October 1994): 157-177.
72. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Van Hulle, Carol A.
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Rathouz, Paul J.
Beasley, Will
Johnson, Amber
Waldman, Irwin D.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Behavior Problems and Timing of Menarche: A Developmental Longitudinal Biometrical Analysis Using the NLSY-Children Data
Behavior Genetics 45,1 (January 2015): 51-70.
Also: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10519-014-9676-4
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Behavior Genetics Association
Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavior, Antisocial; Kinship; Menarche/First Menstruation; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

A powerful longitudinal data source, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Children data, allows measurement of behavior problems (BP) within a developmental perspective linking them to menarcheal timing (MT). In a preliminary analysis, we evaluate the bivariate relationships between BP measured at different developmental periods and the timing of menarche. Correlations were not consistent with any correlational/causal relationship between BP and MT. In the major part of our study, MT was used to moderate the developmental trajectory of BP, within a genetically-informed design. Girls reaching menarche early had behavior problem variance accounted for by the shared environment; those reaching menarche with average/late timing had behavior problem differences accounted for by genetic variance. Our findings match previous empirical results in important ways, and also extend those results. A theoretical interpretation is offered in relation to a theory linking genetic/shared environmental variance to flexibility and choices available within the family in relation to BP.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee, Carol A. Van Hulle, Brian M. D'Onofrio, Paul J. Rathouz, Will Beasley, Amber Johnson, Irwin D. Waldman and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Behavior Problems and Timing of Menarche: A Developmental Longitudinal Biometrical Analysis Using the NLSY-Children Data." Behavior Genetics 45,1 (January 2015): 51-70.
73. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Vickers, Karen Bradley
The Seasonality of Onset of Adolescent Sexuality
Presented: Toronto, Canada, Population Association of America Meetings, May 1990
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Population Association of America
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Hispanics; Racial Differences; Seasonality; Sexual Activity; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Experiences/Virginity

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Recent attention to seasonality of births leads to an interest in seasonality patterns in the antecedents to birth, including gestational length, conception, and coital activity. In this paper the authors begin at the very beginning of the process and study the seasonality of the onset of sexual intercourse. Data come from two sources, the ADSEX (Adolescent Sexuality) data and the NLSY data. Analysis of the ADSEX data suggests a summer peak in onset of adolescent coitus. This finding suggests a simple "Summer Vacation Theory" in which the likelihood of a virgin adolescent making the transition to nonvirginity increases immediately after school is out for the summer. This theory is then tested by cross-validating patterns in the ADSEX data against those in the NLSY data. The patterns in this national dataset match those from ADSEX, in that a large peak is found in June and, to a lesser extent, in July. These patterns are consistent across race and period, although some minor differences between Hispanics and other races and between high school and college onset are noted and interpreted.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and Karen Bradley Vickers. "The Seasonality of Onset of Adolescent Sexuality." Presented: Toronto, Canada, Population Association of America Meetings, May 1990.
74. Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Wanstrom, Linda
Identification of a Flynn Effect in the NLSY: Moving from the Center to the Boundaries
Intelligence 35,2 (March-April 2007): 187-196.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289606000717
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Elsevier
Keyword(s): Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); Flynn Effect; I.Q.; Intelligence; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading); Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT)

The Flynn Effect [Flynn, J.R. (1984). The mean IQ of Americans: Massive gains 1932 to 1978. Psychological Bulletin 95, 29-51.] is an increase in IQ of around .33 points per year, observed in developed (and some developing) countries during the past century. It emerges from problem solving and other non-verbal components of IQ. The cause has been argued and theories proposed. Rodgers [Rodgers, J.L. (1998). A critique of the Flynn Effect: Massive IQ gains, methodological artifacts, or both? Intelligence 26, 337-356.] noted that the search for causes has preceded specification of the nature of the effect. Our study uses a national sample of U.S. children to test for the Flynn Effect in PIAT-Math, PIAT-Reading Recognition, PIAT-Reading Comprehension, Digit Span, and PPVT. An effect of the predicted magnitude was observed for PIAT-Math when maternal IQ was controlled. This finding in a large representative sample with thousands of variables supports more careful evaluation of the Flynn Effect, in demographic, geographic, environmental, and biological domains. © 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Bibliography Citation
Rodgers, Joseph Lee and Linda Wanstrom. "Identification of a Flynn Effect in the NLSY: Moving from the Center to the Boundaries ." Intelligence 35,2 (March-April 2007): 187-196.
75. Rowe, David C.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
A Social Contagion Model of Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Explaining Race Differences
Social Biology 41,1-2 (Spring-Summer 1994): 1-18
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Society for the Study of Social Biology
Keyword(s): Behavior; Methods/Methodology; Modeling; Parental Influences; Racial Differences; Religion; Religious Influences; Self-Esteem; Sexual Activity; Sexual Experiences/Virginity

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Purely psychosocial explanations of the fact that black US adolescents consistently report an earlier age of first intercourse than their white counterparts have been less than successful. Proposed here is an epidemic model that combines social contagion (a psychosocial process) & pubertal maturation (a biological process). This model permits social contacts among adolescents of the same age & also among younger & older adolescents. Applied to data from the 1979-1984 National Longitudinal Studies of Youth (N = 7,410 whites & 3,174 blacks at last interview), the model statistically fits the actual growth curve of sexuality well for whites; its fit is not as good for blacks. From computer simulation analyses, it is concluded that pubertal maturation may be more important in accounting for the racial difference in the onset of sexual intercourse than previously thought. 7 Tables, 48 References. Adapted from the source document
Bibliography Citation
Rowe, David C. and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "A Social Contagion Model of Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Explaining Race Differences." Social Biology 41,1-2 (Spring-Summer 1994): 1-18.
76. Rowe, David C.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
An 'Epidemic' Model of Adolescent Sexual Intercourse Prevalences: Applications to National Survey Data
Working Paper, School of Family and Consumer Resources, The University of Arizona, Tucson, 1989
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: School of Family and Consumer Resources, The University of Arizona
Keyword(s): Adolescent Fertility; Behavior; Data Quality/Consistency; Hispanics; Racial Differences; Research Methodology; Sexual Activity; Sexual Behavior; Sexual Experiences/Virginity

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In this paper, the authors define diffusion models that reflect the spread of certain "adult onset" behaviors through an adolescent population. This general modeling approach has its roots in the mathematics of diffusion and in the epidemiology of infectious disease. Hence, we call this modeling approach "Epidemic Modeling of the Onset of Social Activities" (EMOSA). This paper applies EMOSA modeling to adolescent sexual intercourse using national data from the NLSY. The model allows for an "epidemic" process (the transmission of sexuality from a nonvirgin to a virgin) and a nonepidemic process (two virgins progressing to sexual intercourse). The model also requires that virgin females be pubertally mature before they will progress to sexual intercourse. The model gave excellent fits to national data on Danish whites and a good fit to American whites, but the model-fits for American blacks and hispanics were poorer. The authors cite evidence suggesting that the weakness of the latter model-fits may reflect problems in the reliability of adolescent sexuality data.
Bibliography Citation
Rowe, David C. and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "An 'Epidemic' Model of Adolescent Sexual Intercourse Prevalences: Applications to National Survey Data." Working Paper, School of Family and Consumer Resources, The University of Arizona, Tucson, 1989.
77. Rowe, David C.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
An 'Epidemic' Model of Adolescent Sexual Intercourse: Applications to National Survey Data
Journal of Biosocial Science 23,2 (1991): 211-219.
Also: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1637492&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S0021932000019222
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Hispanics; Modeling; Sexual Activity; Sexual Experiences/Virginity

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper applies models of the onset of adolescent sexual intercourse using nation data from Denmark and the USA. The model gave excellent fits to data on Danish Whites and a good fit to American Whites, but the model-fits for American Blacks and Hispanics were not as good. The weakness of the latter model fits may reflect either real processes that the model does not capture or problems in the reliability of adolescent sexuality data.
Bibliography Citation
Rowe, David C. and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "An 'Epidemic' Model of Adolescent Sexual Intercourse: Applications to National Survey Data." Journal of Biosocial Science 23,2 (1991): 211-219.
78. Rowe, David C.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Meseck-Bushey, Sylvia
Sibling Delinquency and the Family Environment: Shared and Unshared Influences
Child Development 63,1 (February 1992): 59-67.
Also: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.1992.tb03595.x/abstract
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Keyword(s): Birth Order; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Family Environment; Family Income; Family Influences; Family Size; Family Structure; Gender Differences; Genetics; Illegal Activities; Kinship; Pairs (also see Siblings); Racial Differences; Self-Reporting; Siblings

A sibling research design is used to evaluate two hypotheses about sibling resemblance in delinquency: (1) a genetic hypothesis, which requires sibling resemblance to be independent of birth position and family structure; and (2) an environmental hypothesis, which requires moderation of resemblance by family composition and structure. The study used a subset of sibling pairs from the NLSY, a nationally representative data set, and uniquely, families of size 2, 3, and 4 siblings. The genetic hypothesis was generally supported for sisters and mixed sex siblings, but an environmental hypothesis or combination hypothesis may apply to brothers. The median sibling correlations, averaged over family sizes, were: r = .30, brothers; r = .28, sisters; and r = .20, mixed sex siblings.
Bibliography Citation
Rowe, David C., Joseph Lee Rodgers and Sylvia Meseck-Bushey. "Sibling Delinquency and the Family Environment: Shared and Unshared Influences." Child Development 63,1 (February 1992): 59-67.
79. Rowe, David C.
Vesterdal, Wendy J.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Herrnstein's Syllogism: Genetic and Shared Environmental Influences on IQ, Education, and Income
Intelligence 26,4 (November 1998): 405-423.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289699000082
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Economics Department, Moore School of Business, University of Soutn Carolina
Keyword(s): Education; Genetics; I.Q.; Income; Income Distribution; Intelligence; Kinship; Modeling, Biometric; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Genotypes may influence the phenotypic associations among IQ, education, and income. To investigate this hypothesis, we believe that the appropriate methodology requires estimation of genetic and environmental influences using data able to separate these influences. The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) is a nationally representative sample that contains genetically-informative full- and half-siblings (28-35 years old in 1992; Ns = 1943 full-siblings, 129 half-siblings). A biometric genetic model was fit that estimated the shared environmental and genetic variance components of IQ, years of education, and hourly income. The total heritabilities were 0.64 for IQ, 0.68 for education, and 0.42 for income. Heritabilities due to a common genetic factor were 0.35 for IQ, 0.52 for education, and 0.12 for income. Environmental influences due to a common shared environmental factor were 0.23 for IQ, 0.18 for education, and 0.08 for income. The model predicted a correlation of 0.63 between IQ and education and 0.34 between IQ and income. Sixty-eight percent of the former and 59% of the latter was genetically mediated; the remainder was mediated by common shared environment. These findings suggest that social inequality in the United States has its origin in both genetically-based traits and in different environmental backgrounds.
Bibliography Citation
Rowe, David C., Wendy J. Vesterdal and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "Herrnstein's Syllogism: Genetic and Shared Environmental Influences on IQ, Education, and Income." Intelligence 26,4 (November 1998): 405-423.
80. Van Hulle, Carol A.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Waldman, Irwin D.
Lahey, Benjamin B.
Sex Differences in the Causes of Self-Reported Adolescent Delinquency
Journal of Abnormal Psychology 116, 2 (May 2007): 236-248.
Also: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021843X07627588
Cohort(s): NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Keyword(s): Adolescent Behavior; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Gender Differences; Genetics; Siblings

Sex differences in the causes of self-reported adolescent delinquency were examined in full and half siblings born to a nationally representative sample of women in the United States. Qualitative sex differences in the genes that influence delinquency were not detected. Similarly, the proportions of variance in both aggressive and nonaggressive delinquency attributable to genetic and environmental influences did not differ significantly between girls and boys. Nonetheless, total variance in delinquency was greater among boys, and a scalar sex-differences model suggested that genetic and environmental influences on delinquency have less effect on population variation in delinquency among girls. Similarly, a test of the polygenic multiple threshold model suggested that girls require greater causal liability for the expression of delinquency than boys.
Bibliography Citation
Van Hulle, Carol A., Joseph Lee Rodgers, Brian M. D'Onofrio, Irwin D. Waldman and Benjamin B. Lahey. "Sex Differences in the Causes of Self-Reported Adolescent Delinquency." Journal of Abnormal Psychology 116, 2 (May 2007): 236-248.
81. Vaughan, Erikka B.
Van Hulle, Carol A.
Beasley, William H.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
D'Onofrio, Brian M.
Clarifying the Associations between Age at Menarche and Adolescent Emotional and Behavioral Problems
Journal of Youth and Adolescence 44,4 (April 2015): 922-939.
Also: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-015-0255-7
Cohort(s): NLSY79, NLSY79 Young Adult
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Age at First Intercourse; Age at Menarche/First Menstruation; Behavior Problems Index (BPI); CESD (Depression Scale); Crime; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Kinship; Modeling, Multilevel; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Better understanding risk factors for the development of adolescent emotional and behavioral problems can help with intervention and prevention efforts. Previous studies have found that an early menarcheal age predicts several adolescent problems, including depressive symptoms, delinquency, and early age at first intercourse. Few studies, nevertheless, have explicitly tested (a) whether the associations with menarcheal age vary across racial/ethnic groups or (b) whether the sources of the associations are within-families (i.e., consistent with a direct, causal link) or only between-families (i.e., due to selection or confounding factors). The current study analyzed data from a nationally representative US Sample of females (N=5,637). We examined whether race/ethnicity moderated the associations between early menarche and several adolescent problems by using multiple-group analyses and we examined the degree to which genetic and environmental factors shared by family members account for the associations by comparing sisters and cousins with differing menarcheal ages. Menarcheal age predicted subsequent depressive symptoms, delinquency, and early age at first intercourse in the population. The magnitudes of the associations were similar across all racial/ethnic groups for all outcomes. The within-family associations (i.e., when comparing siblings and cousins with different menarcheal age) were large and statistically significant when predicting early intercourse, but not the other outcomes. The findings suggest that selection or confounding factors account for the associations between menarcheal age and subsequent depressive symptoms and delinquency, whereas the independent association between menarcheal age and early age at first intercourse is consistent with a direct, causal effect.
Bibliography Citation
Vaughan, Erikka B., Carol A. Van Hulle, William H. Beasley, Joseph Lee Rodgers and Brian M. D'Onofrio. "Clarifying the Associations between Age at Menarche and Adolescent Emotional and Behavioral Problems." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 44,4 (April 2015): 922-939.
82. Wanstrom, Linda
O'Keefe, Patrick
Clouston, Sean A. P.
Mann, Frank D.
Muniz-Terrera, Graciela
Voll, Stacey
Zhang, Yun
Hofer, Scott M.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
It Runs in the Family: Testing for Longitudinal Family Flynn Effects
Journal of Intelligence 11,3 (March 2023): 50.
Also: https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence11030050
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79, NLSY79
Publisher: MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Flynn Effect; Modeling, Growth Curve/Latent Trajectory Analysis; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The Flynn effect refers to increases over time in measured (particularly fluid) intelligence of approximately 3 IQ points per decade. We define the Flynn effect at the family level, using longitudinal data and two new family-level cohort definitions. Multilevel growth curve analyses of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 data showed that children in families with later-born mothers had higher average PIAT math scores, and lower average reading comprehension scores and growth, in young and middle childhood. Children in families where the first child was born later had higher average PIAT math, reading recognition, and reading comprehension scores, as well as larger developmental growth. The latter family-level Flynn effects were of higher magnitudes than the usual individual-level Flynn effect found in previous studies. Our results, showing family level-intercept and slope Flynn effects for both maternal birthyear and first child birthyear, have implications for research aiming to explain the Flynn effect.
Bibliography Citation
Wanstrom, Linda, Patrick O'Keefe, Sean A. P. Clouston, Frank D. Mann, Graciela Muniz-Terrera, Stacey Voll, Yun Zhang, Scott M. Hofer and Joseph Lee Rodgers. "It Runs in the Family: Testing for Longitudinal Family Flynn Effects." Journal of Intelligence 11,3 (March 2023): 50.
83. Wichman, Aaron L.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
MacCallum, Robert C.
A Multilevel Approach to the Relationship Between Birth Order and Intelligence
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 32,1 (January 2006): 117-127
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Keyword(s): Birth Order; Intelligence; Modeling, Multilevel; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Many studies show relationships between birth order and intelligence but use cross-sectional designs or manifest other threats to internal validity. Multilevel analyses with a control variable show that when these threats are removed, two major results emerge: (a) birth order has no significant influence on children's intelligence and (b) earlier reported birth order effects on intelligence are attributable to factors that vary between, not within, families. Analyses on 7- to 8 - and 13- to 14-year-old children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth support these conclusions. When hierarchical data structures, age variance of children, and within-family versus between-family variance sources are taken into account, previous research is seen in a new light.
Bibliography Citation
Wichman, Aaron L., Joseph Lee Rodgers and Robert C. MacCallum. "A Multilevel Approach to the Relationship Between Birth Order and Intelligence ." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 32,1 (January 2006): 117-127.
84. Wichman, Aaron L.
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
MacCallum, Robert C.
Birth Order Has No Effect on Intelligence: A Reply and Extension of Previous Findings
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 33,9 (September 2007): 1195-1200
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Keyword(s): Age at First Birth; Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Birth Order; Digit Span (also see Memory for Digit Span - WISC); I.Q.; Intelligence; Modeling, Multilevel

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

We address points raised by Zajonc and Sulloway, who reject findings showing that birth order has no effect on intelligence. Many objections to findings of null birth-order results seem to stem from a misunderstanding of the difference between study designs where birth order is confounded with true causal influences on intelligence across families and designs that control for some of these influences. We discuss some of the consequences of not appreciating the nature of this difference. When between-family confounds are controlled using appropriate study designs and techniques such as multilevel modeling, birth order is shown not to influence intelligence. We conclude with an empirical investigation of the replicability and generalizability of this approach.
Bibliography Citation
Wichman, Aaron L., Joseph Lee Rodgers and Robert C. MacCallum. "Birth Order Has No Effect on Intelligence: A Reply and Extension of Previous Findings." Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 33,9 (September 2007): 1195-1200.
85. Zhu, Joyce
Garrison, Sarah Mason
Rodgers, Joseph Lee
Zald, David
Shaping Perseverance: Evidence of Shared Environmental Effects on Grit and a Task-Based Measure of Persistence
Presented: San Diego CA, Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, January 2016
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: Society for Personality and Social Psychology
Keyword(s): Personality/Big Five Factor Model or Traits; Siblings

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Can persistence be shaped? We report sizable shared environmental effects of persistence in a self-report measure from the Tennessee Twin Study (N=212) and a task-based measure from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N=12,686). Both studies show persistence has substantial shared environmental effects, implying that experience can shape the trait.
Bibliography Citation
Zhu, Joyce, Sarah Mason Garrison, Joseph Lee Rodgers and David Zald. "Shaping Perseverance: Evidence of Shared Environmental Effects on Grit and a Task-Based Measure of Persistence." Presented: San Diego CA, Society for Personality and Social Psychology Annual Meeting, January 2016.