Giovanni Scotti Bentivoglio

This paper investigates the interplay between genetics and parenting in the development of hyperactivity and inattention, by estimating and modeling the joint evolution of behavioral problems and parental investments across childhood and adolescence. I use data from the Millennium Cohort Study and estimate the model on a sample of genotyped family trios, following children from age 3 to 14. Results indicate a gradual deterioration of the behavioural problems of the child, where initial differences in hyperactive and inattentive behaviours widen over time and are amplified by the child's genetic predispositions to develop ADHD. Moreover, different forms of parental investments have different effects on the child's behavioural development. Harsh parental discipline, a form of emotional investment, can strongly exacerbate hyperactive and inattentive problems, with an increasing effect over time, while time investments such as parental activities have a protective effect on the child, but the child's behaviour is far more sensitive to the former than to the latter dimension of parenting.

Prenatal exposure to air pollution has been shown to have adverse effects on health and educational achievement. The size of these effects may depend on parental involvement in the child’s development. Using data from Germany, we investigate such interaction effects on entry into the academic secondary-school track (Gymnasium) and on school grades. To deal with potential endogeneity of pollution exposure, we leverage variations in the height of the planetary boundary layer, an exogenous atmospheric variable strongly predicting pollution levels. We find that higher in-utero pollution exposure decreases the likelihood of entering the academic track, especially among low-SES children. Importantly, high maternal involvement in engaging activities effectively mitigates the adverse effects of pollution, while a high frequency of passive, screen-based activities with the child does not moderate pollution effects.