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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on June 12, 2008
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsn053
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Incorporating the Family as a Critical Context in Genetic Studies of Children: Implications for Understanding Pathways to Risky Behavior and Substance Use

Richard Rende, PhD1,2 and Cheryl Slomkowski, PhD1,2

1Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and 2Transdisciplinary Research Group, Butler Hospital

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Richard Rende, PhD, TRG, Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI 02906, USA. E-mail: richard_rende{at}brown.edu


  Abstract

The availability of candidate gene markers for biobehavioral traits will undoubtedly result in increasing attention to genetic influences in studies of childhood risk factors for health behaviors. However, a strict emphasis on genomics without consideration of the social contexts that give rise to risky behaviors will miss opportunities to understand more fully the powerful effect of the family on childhood development. This article discusses the rationale for using the family as a critical context for studying the translation of genetic propensity for risky behavior into developmental pathways that span childhood and adolescence. Attention is given to the importance of family environmental factors; the emerging literature on genetic influences on potential intermediate phenotypes; the need for rich and detailed characterizations of both phenotypes and environmental risk factors embedded within genomic studies of children; and implications for interventions and preventions aimed at risky behaviors. Via discussion of these issues, pragmatic considerations of how studying families as a context may facilitate the thoughtful inclusion of children into genetic paradigms are emphasized.

Key words: childhood; developmental pathways; genomics; shared environment; substance use.

Received November 20, 2007; revision received May 6, 2008; accepted May 6, 2008


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