Putting a very high premium on receiving a reward now rather
than later has been linked to drug abuse and behavioral
disorders in several studies. Now, Dr. Andrey P. Anokhin and
colleagues at the Washington University School of Medicine have
provided the first estimate of the relative contributions of
genetic and environmental factors to a young teen’s response to
a now-versus-later reward option. Although genetics
significantly influenced the children’s choices, environmental
factors also contributed, suggesting that behavioral and other
interventions may be able to promote forward-looking decision-
making and reduce the risks related to impulsivity. The
researchers recruited 372 pairs of 12-year-old twins and told
each child that, as a reward for cooperating with a battery of
assessments, he or she could either have $7 right away or wait
and receive $10 in the mail in a week. Two years later, when the
twins were 14, the researchers were able to contact 82 percent
of them and repeat the same assessments and r