AN EXAMINATION OF GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS FOR ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT IN AN US NATIONAL LONGITUDINAL SURVEY

We examined whether genetic and environmental effects on academic achi evement changed as a function of the quality of the children's environ ment. The study included a variety of observed environmental measures such as parental cognitive stimulation and poverty level, longitudinal information about previous environmental conditions, and a larger tha n average number of children who grew up in deprived environments. The sample consisted of 1664 pairs of full siblings, 366 pairs of half si blings, and 752 pairs of cousins who were on average 9.58 years old. B oth a simple descriptive approach as well as significance tests perfor med with multilevel regression analyses showed little evidence for gen otype-environment interactions. There was only a slight trend consisti ng of a linear decrease of total variance or nonshared environmental e ffects from deprived to good environments.