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Do Parents Matter in Creating Self-Control in Their Children?

CRIMINOLOGY VOLUME 43 NUMBER 4 2005

DO PARENTS MATTER IN CREATING SELF-CONTROL IN THEIR CHILDREN? A GENETICALLY INFORMED TEST OF GOTTFREDSON AND HIRSCHI’S THEORY OF LOW SELF-CONTROL*

Authors

  • John Paul Wright, University of Cincinnati

  • Kevin M. Beaver, University of Cincinnati

KEYWORDS

  • ADHD

  • Behavior patterns

  • Genetics

  • Parental influence

  • Self-control

Introduction

  • Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime (1990)

    • Proposes that low self-control is the main cause of crime and related behaviors.

    • Lacks empirical work examining factors that give rise to low self-control.

  • Parental Influence

    • Gottfredson and Hirschi suggest parents are the sole factors in fostering or thwarting low self-control.

    • Disregard for genetic influences on self-control.

  • Genetic Research

    • ADHD and frontostriatal system deficits show high heritability.

    • Research aims to determine if "parents matter" in creating low self-control after considering genetic factors.

  • Sample Population: Twin children were studied to evaluate parenting measures and their effect on self-control.

Literature Review

Strength of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s Theory

  • Supported by meta-analytic review by Pratt and Cullen (2000).

    • Low self-control is a predictor of criminal behavior across various samples.

    • Theory continues to influence criminological discourse (Geis, 2000; Marcus, 2004; Sampson and Laub, 1995).

Parental Impact on Self-Control Development

  • Study connections between effective parenting behaviors and low self-control in children.

    • Effective monitoring = higher self-control; ineffective = lower self-control.

  • Empirical Evidence

    • Limited studies supporting parenting influence.

    • Previous findings link effective child-rearing to self-control (Cochran et al., 1998).

    • Studies consistently attribute low self-control to proper parenting practices.

Genetic Considerations in Self-Control

Critique of Gottfredson and Hirschi's Stance

  • Argued that genetic factors contribute significantly to traits related to low self-control (Price et al., 2001; Rietveld et al., 2003).

    • ADHD heritability = 75% (Spencer et al., 2002).

    • Barkley (2005): ADHD 97% heritable, suggesting genetics overpower environmental factors.

Harris’s Perspective

  • Challenges the idea that parenting significantly influences personality traits.

    • Varied parenting environments lead to inconsistency in child outcomes (Harris, 1998).

    • Parenting practices can appear significant due to shared genetic influences.

Research Design and Methodology

Two-Part Focus

  1. Assess parenting effects on self-control in children using a national dataset (mother/teacher reports).

  2. Utilize twin samples to address genetic variability.

Sample Details

  • Data sourced from: Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K).

  • Study size: over 21,000 children, with specific focus on 1,000 randomly selected samples.

  • Unique feature: capability to control for shared genetic variance among twins.

Variables and Measures

Low Self-Control Measurement

  • Utilized Gresham and Elliott’s Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS).

  • Reliable metrics for parental and teacher assessments of self-control and impulsivity.

Parenting Measures

  • Five main scales assessed:

    • Parental Involvement (time spent on activities with child).

    • Parental Withdrawal (emotional distance from child).

    • Parental Affection (warmth and closeness).

    • Physical Punishment (disciplinary measures).

    • Family Rules (structure of parenting dynamics regarding media consumption).

Statistical Analysis

  • Compared Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models with Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) to account for genetic clustering.

  • OLS models: higher significance in parenting measures.

  • HLM models: reduced significance for parenting measures when clustering accounted.

Results

Parenting Effects in Kindergarten

Findings From OLS Regression

  • Significant factors influencing low self-control included:

    • Parental withdrawal (positive correlation).

    • Parental affection and family rules (negative correlation).

  • Control factors: gender, academic preparedness, neighborhood disadvantage.

Findings From HLM Analysis

  • Consistent with critiques suggesting overestimation in OLS models.

    • Only parental withdrawal and affection remained statistically significant after controlling for genetics.

  • Teacher-reported measures had differences revealing fewer parenting significance effects.

Parenting Effects in First Grade

OLS Findings

  • Similar to kindergarten results, with parental withdrawal retaining significance.

  • Gender and academic preparedness again proved significant.

HLM Analysis Results

  • Only parental withdrawal and academic preparedness remained significant, indicating overestimation in parent-reported data.

Discussion

  • The findings question the weight of parenting’s impact on self-control relative to genetic influences.

  • Parenting variables influence diminished significantly when genetic similarities emerged.

  • Suggests that external environmental factors, habitual interaction, and genetic predispositions combine complexly to determine self-control in children.

Conclusions

  • Parenting practices, when assessed in isolation, show an association with low self-control but may not be as impactful when factoring genetics.

  • Need for further research to understand the dynamics between parental socialization, genetic heritability, and behavioral outcomes.

References

  • List of works cited throughout the study, highlighting contributions to the discussion on genetics, self-control, and parental influence.

Appendices

Appendix A: Description of Variables and Scales

  • Detailed explanation of low self-control and socialization measures.

Appendix B: Descriptive Statistics

  • Statistical summary of findings from the twin and random samples.

Appendix C: Effects of Parenting on Full Measures in Combined Sample

  • Comprehensive analysis of parenting effects with expanded indicators.