EGDS - Phase 2
EGDS-Phase 2 is unique because it increases the size of our adoptive and birth parent sample by 200 sets, bringing the total sample size to 561 sets of families. This grant is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Mental Health, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR), Office of the Director. The adoptive families are interviewed in-person at child ages 9, 18, and 27 months and complete an online and mailed interview when the child is 4½ years old. The birth parents are interviewed in-person shortly after the birth and placement of the child for adoption and about a year later.
EGDS-Phase 2, also known as EGDS-Prenatal, adds an additional element to the study of nature and nurture in regard to child development. DNA is collected from all 561 sets of families in order to better understand how genes might influence the development of personality and behaviors. This information allows us to disentangle the effects of genetic influences from the effects of the prenatal and postnatal environments.
