Improvements and Future Challenges in the Field of Genetically Sensitive Sample Designs

Understanding the sources of individual differences beyond social and economic effects has become a research area of growing interest in psychology, sociology, and economics. A quantitative genetic research design provides the necessary tools for this type of analysis. For a state-of-the-art approach, multigroup data is required. Household panel studies, such as BHPS (Understanding Society) in the UK or the SOEP in Germany, combined with an oversampling of twins, provide a powerful starting point since data from a reasonably large number of non-twin relatives is readily available. In addition to advances in our understanding of genetic and environmental influences on key variables in the social sciences, quantitative genetic analyses of target variables can guide molecular genetic research in the field of employment, earnings, health and satisfaction, as combined twin and sibling or parent data can help overcome serious caveats in molecular genetic research.genetics, twins, psychology, sociology, economics, heritability,environment, multigroup design, BHPS, SOEP

Improvements and Future Challenges in the Field of Genetically Sensitive Sample Designs

Understanding the sources of individual differences beyond social and economic effects has become a research area of growing interest in psychology, sociology, and economics. A quantitative genetic research design provides the necessary tools for this type of analysis. For a state-of-the-art approach, multigroup data is required. Household panel studies, such as BHPS (Understanding Society) in the UK or the SOEP in Germany, combined with an oversampling of twins, provide a powerful starting point since data from a reasonably large number of non-twin relatives is readily available. In addition to advances in our understanding of genetic and environmental influences on key variables in the social sciences, quantitative genetic analyses of target variables can guide molecular genetic research in the field of employment, earnings, health and satisfaction, as combined twin and sibling or parent data can help overcome serious caveats in molecular genetic research.Genetics, twins, psychology, sociology, economics, heritability, environment, multigroup design, BHPS, SOEP

Motivational and personality variables distinguish academic underachievers from high achievers, low achievers, and overachievers

Previous studies have associated several variables concerning motivation and other domains with underachievement, i. e. a student's academic achievement falling short of what their cognitive abilities, as the best predictor of academic performance, would indicate. The present study extends these findings using a more rigorous approach in defining underachievers and suitable control groups. Using discriminant analysis, underachievers identified in a German twin family study were compared not only to achievers with comparable IQ scores, but also with students of lower aptitude, but comparably low grades, as well as overachieving students. Results confirm previous findings that compared to successful students, underachievers report lower levels of motivation and parental support; beyond this comparison, underachievers also differed from other low achievers, mostly in terms of their personality. In total, 40% of the variance between the groups were explained. Additionally, the data shed doubt on the common assumption that underachievers are an unusually heterogenous group of students

Reexamining the Relationship Between Shift Work and Health Behavior: Do Fluid Intelligence, Socio-economic Status, and Self-control Moderate the Relation?

In contemporary research, the link between shift work and health has received empirical support. Contrary to the well-established association between shift work and adverse health outcomes, literature on the link between shift work and various negative health-related behavior patterns is limited to a rather small number of studies revealing inconsistent results. This is problematic since it is assumed that shift work affects health outcomes via the effect of health behavior. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between shift work and select indicators of health behavior (namely, smoking, alcohol consumption, and preventive health care) as well as subjective health in a large representative German sample. In the light of inconsistent previous findings in the field, we further examined potential moderators (namely, fluid intelligence, socio-economic status, and self-control). Results are based on data from 2,590 participants. We conducted multiple regression analyses as well as mean-differences analyses. Our results suggest that shift work had no direct mean effect on health-related behavior patterns. Moreover, fluid intelligence, socio-economic status, and self-control did not moderate any effects. In accordance with the findings regarding objective health indicators, shift and day workers did not differ in the subjective perception of their health. These findings inform future research and potential interventions that should aim at fostering a healthier lifestyle not only among shift workers

Genetics, parenting, and family functioning—What drives the development of self-control from adolescence to adulthood?

Self-control is a meaningful predictor of crucial life outcomes. Knowingly, genes contribute substantially to differences in self-control, but behavioral genetic findings are often misinterpreted regarding environmental influences. Therefore, we reinvestigate the heritability of self-control as well as potential environmental influences, namely parenting and a chaotic home environment. We used cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the German twin family study TwinLife (N = 3354 individuals), structured in a multicohort design in which 13-, 19-, and 25-year-old twins rated their self-control, parents' behavior, and home environment. Results showed increasing mean levels and 1-year stabilities for self-control accompanied by substantial genetic influences, increasing particularly from ages 19 to 25 (53% to 76%). While chaotic home environments and negative parenting were phenotypically associated with lower self-control, twin difference models revealed that differences in these individually perceived “environments” directly predicted self-control differences (β = −0.16 to −0.28) within families when controlling for genetic and environmental similarities. In addition to the genetic anchoring of self-control, results indicate that environmental factors such as negative family environments are meaningful and depend on individual perceptions within families. Interventions for enhancing self-control should, therefore, rely on individual perspectives rather than objective characteristics of home environments

How did the beginnings of the global COVID-19 pandemic affect mental well-being?

The present study aims to investigate longitudinal changes in mental well-being as well as the role of individual differences in personality traits (Big Five) and the level of Personality Organisation during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Overall, 272 adults (Mage= 36.94, SDage= 16.46; 68.62% female, 23.45% male, 0.69% non-binary) took part in our study with four weekly surveys during the lockdown as well as a follow-up one month after restrictions were lifted. To analyse the development of mental well-being during and shortly after the first lockdown in Germany latent growth curve models (LGCM) were calculated. The considered facets of well-being differ by their trajectory. Additionally, results suggest that the lockdown did not affect all facets to the same extent. While Life Satisfaction decreases in the short term as a reaction to the lockdown, Stress and Psychological Strain were reduced after the second week of contact restrictions. When adding personality characteristics, our results showed that Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were the two dimensions associated most strongly with SWB during the first month of the pandemic. Thus, our research suggests that personality traits should be considered when analysing mental well-being