Figure 21.

The relationship of birth mothers’ antisocial behavior, measured at child aged 3 months, adoptive mothers observed positive reinforcement at child age 18 months and their interaction on three measures of child behavior at 27 months. In addition to child gender, adoption openness and perinatal complications, children’s callous and deceitful behavior at age 18 months is held constant.

^a Severe biological mother antisocial behavior predicts adoptive child callous-unemotional behaviours, but the effect is buffered by adoptive parent positive reinforcement.

*p<0.05. **p<0.01. ***p<0.001.