Abstract
This study examined the influence of genetic and environmental factors on children's trust in parents, from a human behavioral genetics perspective. Pairs of 4th through 9th grade twins (N=381 pairs, including 215 monozygotic [MZ] pairs and 166 dizygotic [DZ] pairs) completed questionnaires about their trust in parents and parental behavior. Univariate genetic analysis showed that the relative effects of genetic (additive genetic) vs. environmental (common environment and non-shared environment) factors on children's trust in mothers differed from the relative effects of these three factors on trust in fathers. In addition, the ratio of these effects varied according to developmental stage (childhood vs. early adolescence). Trust in parents was also compared between MZ twins who recognized parental behavior differently from each other. Trust scores were higher among MZ twins who perceived parents as more caring. It was notable that environmental factors such as parental behavior affected children's trust in parents even among MZ twins with identical genetic structures.
