Genetic and environmental influences on delinquency: DF analysis of NLSY kinship data

This paper follows earlier research (Rowe et al., 1992) in evaluating the b asis of family influences on adolescent delinquent behavior. Delinquency is measured in a number of different ways to account for important theoretica l distinctions that exist in the delinquency literature. We use recently id entified kinship structure in a large national data set - the National Long itudinal Survey of Youth - to estimate genetic and shared environmental inf luences on self-reported delinquency scores. Our analytic model is based on DF analysis, a regression procedure used to estimate parameters reflecting genetic and environmental influence. Results suggest a consistent and mode rate genetic basis to sibling similarity in delinquency and little evidence of a shared environmental basis. A large amount of variance is attributabl e to nonshared influences and/or measurement error. Our findings suggest th at the search for environmental influences on adolescent delinquency should focus on those that are not shared by siblings.