THE APPLICATION OF STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING TO MATERNAL RATINGS OF TWINS BEHAVIORAL AND EMOTIONAL-PROBLEMS

The application of structural equation modeling to twin data is used t o assess the impact of genetic and environmental factors on children's behavioral and emotional functioning. The models are applied to the m aternal ratings of behavior of a subsample of 515 monozygotic and 749 dizygotic juvenile twin pairs, ages 8 through 16, obtained through mai led questionnaires as part of the Medical College of Virginia Adolesce nt Behavioral Development Twin Project. The importance of genetic, sha red, and specific environmental factors for explaining variation is re ported for both externalizing and internalizing behaviors, as well as significant differences in the causes of variation in externalizing be haviors among young boys and girls. The usefulness of applying structu ral equation models to data on monozygotic and dizygotic twins and the potential implications for addressing clinically relevant questions r egarding the causes of psychopathology are discussed.