Skip Navigation


Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access originally published online on June 14, 2007
Journal of Pediatric Psychology 2008 33(2):185-194; doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsm041
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
33/2/185    most recent
jsm041v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ordoñana, J. R.
Right arrow Articles by Moffitt, T. E.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ordoñana, J. R.
Right arrow Articles by Moffitt, T. E.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. 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

Unintentional Injuries in a Twin Study of Preschool Children: Environmental, Not Genetic, Risk Factors

Juan R. Ordoñana, PhD1, Avshalom Caspi, PhD2,3 and Terrie E. Moffitt, PhD2,3

1University of Murcia (Spain), 2Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London and 3Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Juan R. Ordoñana, Area of Psychobiology, Department of Human Anatomy and Psychobiology, Murcia University, 30100 Espinardo-Murcia, Spain. E-mail: ordonana{at}um.es.


  Abstract

Objective To analyze the relative contribution of latent genetic and environmental factors to differences in the injury liability of children, and to examine the association between measured socio-economic, family, and child-behavior variables and unintentional injury risk. Methods Unintentional injuries from birth to age 5, together with information regarding measured risk variables, were reported by mothers in a sample of 1027 same-sex twin pairs from a nationally representative 1994–1995 birth cohort. Results Child-specific environmental factors accounted for most of the variance (86.4%) in the likelihood of ever having an injury. When considering the risk of two or more injuries child-specific environmental factors explained 60.2% of the variance and family-wide environmental influence 39.8%. Measured socio-economic, family, and child-behavior factors predicted frequent injury. Conclusions Results give little support to the concept of a heritable injury-prone trait in preschool children; environmental influences accounted for most of the injury variance in this sample. However, behavioral variables, especially the child's externalizing problem behaviors, are also important in explaining unintentional injuries.

Key words: environmental factors; genetic predisposition; injury-prone; twins; unintentional injuries.

Received January 17, 2007; revision received April 27, 2007; accepted April 28, 2007


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.