Decomposing the microsystem: An etiological approach.

摘要

Various environments were examined under an etiological scope in an effort to better understand the influence of genes on these environmental contexts for the present study. Using the Bioecological theoretical framework by Bronfenbrenner and Ceci (1994) the environment is explained as nested layers comprised of individuals, environments, systems, or ideals that either directly impact the individual or indirectly impact the individual. This Bioecological model also takes into account a bidirectional relationship between the individual and their environment, in that the individual has the ability to influence the environment and the environment has the potential to influence the individual. The Bioecological model is comprised of five different layers; starting with the most proximal to the individual is the microsystem, moving outward to the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem, and finally the chronosystem. For the present study the focus was on the microsystem, which is comprised of interpersonal relationships and environments, such as the home, the school, and the neighborhood. From this inner most layer of the Bioecological model, four environments were identified and chosen for further exploration; the home, classroom, school, and neighborhood. Experiences of these environments were assessed using a twin design and child-level reports. The study involved 536 twin pairs (107 female-female MZ pairs, 101male-male MZ pairs, 131 female-female DZ pairs, 98 male-male DZ pairs, and 96 opposite-sex DZ pairs). The sample was representative of the Florida population (73% White, 13% Black, 2% Asian, 8% Mixed, less than 1% Native American or Alaska native, and approximately 4% "Other"; 29% of the sample identified as Hispanic). The twins were aged 9 to 15 (M=11.4, SD=1.4). Structural equation modeling techniques were used to assess univariate genetic and environmental estimates of the environmental measures. The results from this study indicated environmental influences (shared and non-shared) on home chaos, while the experiences of the classroom and school environments appear to indicate genetic, shared, and non-shared environmental influences with some differences depending on the sex of the individual. The neighborhood environment also appears to indicate genetic and environmental influences depending on the sex of the individual. Finding differential influences of genetic and environmental factors on the environments of the microsystem reveal the importance of probing environments for genetic influences, in that samples potentially vary in the degree that certain environments are under genetic influence. In order to properly measure the environment it is important to use environmental measures assessing individual experiences either in addition to or as opposed to family-level assessments.