Measured Environmental Influences on Early Reading: Evidence From an Adoption Study

Many studies have examined the relationship between environmental processes and literacy outcomes. However, nearly all of this research has examined biologically related family members living together, thus confounding genetic and environmental influences. The purpose of this study was to address this issue using a sample of 262 adopted children and their families. Children were assessed in their homes on a 90-min battery of reading-related outcome measures. Parents reported on their educational attitudes, book reading practices, levels of involvement in homework, and their children's interest in reading-related activities. Multilevel modeling results suggest that aspects of the family environment were associated with child reading-related outcomes, a finding that cannot be attributed to shared genes between parents and their children.