Some research considerations on intergenerational continuities and discontinuities: comment on the special section.

Research into intergenerational continuities should pay attention to 9 key considerations: both sides of the family are involved, secular change will affect continuities, discontinuities outweight continuities, societal as well as family influences may be involved, variations in the meaning of traits must be considered, small differences may be misleading, risks may derive from either person characteristics or experiences, identification of mediating mechanisms is a priority, and such mechanisms may include genetic factors.