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21/01/2014

Genes Cause Children To Throw Tantrums

New research has claimed that genes are responsible for children's bad behaviour and not how they have been brought up by their parents.

According to a team at the University of Montreal, their research looked at both identical and non-identical twins and suggested that genes have an important role to play in children's tantrums.

It has often been thought that the development of aggression in children was a result of them learning from bad role models, with previous studies showing that the bad behaviour starts during infancy and peaks between the ages of two and four.

The teams' findings, which have been published in the journal Psychological Medicine, have now revealed that there are "substantial" differences in both the frequency and the rate of change in tantrums due to the "interplay of genetic and environmental factors over time."

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Dr Eric Lacourse from the University explained: "The gene-environment analysis revealed that early genetic factors were pervasive in accounting for developmental trends, explaining most of the stability and change in physical aggression.

"However, it should be emphasised that these genetic associations do not imply that the early trajectories of physical aggression are set and unchangeable.

"Genetic factors can always interact with other factors from the environment in the causal chain explaining any behaviour."

The study involved parents of twins born between April 1995 and December 1998 in Montreal, Canada, and included genetically identical monozygotic twins – who originated from the same embryo – and non-identical dizogytic twins who developed in separate embryos. Mothers were asked to rate the physical aggression of their twins at the ages of 20, 32 and 50 months and note behaviour such as hitting, biting or kicking.

Dr Lacourse continued and said that the genetic factor plays a "substantial" part of individual difference in physical aggression, and therefore the new research suggests that a link between upbringing and parenting may not be as clear-cut as previously thought.

(JP/IT)

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"New research has claimed that genes are responsible for children's bad behaviour and not how they have been brought up by their parents."