Genetic and Environmental Influences on Vocabulary IQ: Parental Education Level as Moderator
Abstract
This article examines how parental education level moderates the genetic and environmental contributions to variation in verbal IQ. Data are from 1909 non-Hispanic Whites and African American sibling pairs from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which obtained nationally-based samples of identical (MZ) twins, fraternal (DZ) twins, full and half siblings, cousins (in the same household), and biologically unrelated siblings. In the whole sample, the variance estimate for heritability (h2 = .57, SE = .08) was greater than that for shared environment (c2 = .13, SE = .04). Both heritability and the shared environmental estimate were moderated, however, by level of parental education. Specifically, among more highly educated families, the average h2 = .74 (SE = .10) and the average c2 = .00 (SE = .05). Conversely, among less well-educated families, heritability decreased and shared environmental influences increased, yielding similar proportions of variance explained by genetic and environmental factors, average h2 = .26 (SE = .15), and average c2 = .23 (SE = .07).
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Rowe, Jacobson, and Van den Oord (1999) reported higher heritability of vocabulary IQ at higher levels of parental education among a population-based American sample of adolescent twin and sibling pairs.
“Rowe, Jacobson, and Van den Oord (1999) reported higher heritability of vocabulary IQ at higher levels of parental education among a population-based American sample of adolescent twin and sibling pairs.”
From Large Cross-National Differences in Gene × Socioeconomic Status Interaction on Intelligence (2016) · cites this paper as Rowe, Jacobson, and Van den Oord (1999)
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- Authors
- Rowe, D. C., Jacobson, K. C., & Van den Oord, E. J. C. G.
- Affiliations
- University of Arizona (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Utrecht University , Utrecht ,
- Venue
- Child Development
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 1999-09-01
- Volume
- 70
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1151-1162
- ISSN
- 0009-3920 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-8624
- OpenAlex
- W1965048700
- Cited by
- 392
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 17.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Child Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P01- HD31921, P01HD031921)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
- Keywords
- verbal IQ, heritability, shared environment, parental education, moderation, genetic factors, environmental influences, twins, siblings, African American adolescents, non-Hispanic White adolescents, Add Health
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Child Rearing, Child, Preschool, Educational Status, Family, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Genetics, Humans, Intelligence, Male, Parent-Child Relations, Surveys and Questionnaires, Social Environment, Teaching, Twins, Vocabulary
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