What is it about?
We found that genetic background could explain the extent to which adolescents have delinquent friends. We also found that adolescents’ school achievement was explained by this genetic background rather than by friends’ delinquency per se.
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Why is it important?
Many studies show that having delinquent friends is associated with low school achievement. One possible interpretation of this finding is that having delinquent friends is a factor that influences school achievement. However, our results rather show that adolescents’ genetic background is responsible for the association between delinquent friends and low school achievement. This suggests that intervention for low school achievement should focus on adolescents’ individual characteristics rather than on their friendships.
Perspectives
Although this project was a little bit out of my area of expertise (child language development), I found the research questions and results really exciting! I am definitely more knowledgeable and curious about this topic now.
Dr Catherine Mimeau
Université TÉLUQ
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Behavior Genetics Association 51st Annual Meeting Abstracts, Behavior Genetics, October 2021, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s10519-021-10087-3.
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