Genetic and shared environmental contributions to the relationship betweenthe home environment and child and adolescent achievement

The present study used prospective data to examine the relationship between the family environment las measured by the Home Observation for Measuremen t of the Environment-Short Form [HOME-SF]) and child and adolescent achieve ment, and to determine the genetic and environmental contributions to this relationship. Data are from 2108 full- and half-sibling pairs from the Nati onal Longitudinal Study of Youth Child data set (NLSY-Child). The average a ge of participants was 11.9 for older siblings (SD = 3.0) and 8.2 for young er siblings (SD = 2.8). The structural equation modeling program, Mr, was u sed to obtain the most precise estimates of genetic and environmental contr ibutions to variation in the HOME-SF, variation in achievement, and to the covariation between the HOME-SF and achievement. According to the best-fitt ing, most parsimonious model, common genetic factors explained approximatel y one-quarter of the correlation between the HOME-SF and achievement, where as common shared environmental factors explained the majority (75%) of this relationship. Genetic influences also accounted for over one-third of the variation in both the HOME-SF and achievement. Shared environmental influen ces explained 35% and 50% of the variation in achievement and the HOME-SF, respectively. The discussion mentions possible mechanisms by which genetic and environmental factors exert their influence on the relationship between the HOME-SF and achievement.