child (as opposed to engaging in other behaviors such as talking about non-task related topics, providing positive reinforcement, or ignoring the child). An interaction between inherited risk and maternal structured parenting was found, indicating two distinct pathways to child problems: structured parenting was beneficial for toddlers at high inherited risk, but was related to more behavior problems for toddlers at low inherited risk. This finding has important prevention relevance because it suggests that a one-size fits all parenting intervention may not be beneficial for all children. When the sample is examined as a whole, without consideration of inherited risk, these divergent pathways to child behavior problems are masked. By using quantitative genetic methods and testing genetic moderation of environmental influences on development, the differing effects of high maternal structure on child behavior problems are identified. In this study, one implication is that consideration of the individual, inherited risks a toddler presents with might be warranted when implementing interventions aimed at preventing risk for psychopathology during early childhood.
