Interaction between birth complications and early maternal rejection in predisposing individuals to adult violence: specificity to serious, early-onset violence

Raine, Adrian; Brennan, Patricia A.; Mednick, Sarnoff A.

doi:10.1176/ajp.154.9.1265

Cited by 158 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…However, studies have shown that children with birth complications are more likely to later develop antisocial and aggressive behavior (Raine, 2002), but birth complications may not by themselves predispose antisocial and aggressive behaviors, but will require the presence of an environmental risk factor (e.g., poor parenting, maternal rejection). In other words, the relationship between birth complications and antisocial and aggressive behavior is confounded by environmental risk factors (Hodgins et al ., 2001; Raine et al ., 1997). …”

Section: Heritability Of Aggression: Twin and Adoption Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Aggression Across the Lifespan

Tuvblad

Baker

2011

Advances in Genetics

108

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This chapter reviews the recent evidence of genetic and environmental influences on human aggression. Findings from a large selection of the twin and adoption studies that have investigated the genetic and environmental architecture of aggressive behavior are summarized. These studies together show that about half (50%) of the variance in aggressive behavior is explained by genetic influences in both males and females, with the remaining 50% of the variance being explained by environmental factors not shared by family members. Form of aggression (reactive, proactive, direct/physical, indirect/relational), method of assessment (laboratory observation, self-report, ratings by parents and teachers), and age of the subjects—all seem to be significant moderators of the magnitude of genetic and environmental influences on aggressive behavior. Neither study design (twin vs. sibling adoption design) nor sex (male vs. female) seems to impact the magnitude of the genetic and environmental influences on aggression. There is also some evidence of gene-environment interaction (G × E) from both twin/adoption studies and molecular genetic studies. Various measures of family adversity and social disadvantage have been found to moderate genetic influences on aggressive behavior. Findings from these G × E studies suggest that not all individuals will be affected to the same degree by experiences and exposures, and that genetic predispositions may have different effects depending on the environment.

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Section: Heritability Of Aggression: Twin and Adoption Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Aggression Across the Lifespan

Tuvblad

Baker

2011

Advances in Genetics

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Regarding the propensity to aggressive behavior, there are multiple factors interacting with each other. These factors include genetic [2–5] and environmental [6, 7] influences, as well as dysfunctional brain activity and/or anatomical brain damage, predominately localised to prefrontal and limbic structures [8, 9]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimentally Assessed Reactive Aggression in Borderline Personality Disorder

et al. 2016

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Approximately 73% of patients suffering from Borderline personality disorder (BPD) exhibit aggressive behaviour, which severely hinders therapeutic work and clinical improvement. Because the underlying mechanisms of aggression in BPD are not yet completely understood, additional research in this domain has a high clinical and scientific relevance. We employed a modified version of the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (mTAP), in order to examine for the first time whether this task can be used to differentiate between BPD patients and healthy controls with regard to reactive aggression. In the mTAP, the amount of money subtracted by a virtual opponent was categorized into ‘low’ (10–20 cents) and ‘high’ (80–100 cents) provocations, enabling us to compare how much money BPD patients and healthy controls subtracted (i.e., how aggressively participants responded) following high and low provocation trials. Our results showed that, compared to healthy controls, BPD patients showed higher overall aggression, higher aggression after high provocation trials, as well as a larger difference between high and low provocation trials. This finding was corroborated by a neuropsychological assessment, demonstrating higher levels of aggression and impulsivity in BPD patients. Interestingly, reactive aggression in the mTAP was positively correlated with symptom severity and impulsivity in BPD patients. We suggest that the mTAP provides a valuable tool allowing psychiatrists to quantify reactive aggression in BPD. Therefore, clinicians and researchers might consider this task, as a short experimental measure of reactive aggression, either in future studies or to aid diagnostic assessment during clinical practice.

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“…It is well documented that early life environmental risk factors have detrimental effects on the long-term mental health of individuals and increasing evidence suggests that genotype can moderate the capacity of early environmental pathogens to alter risk for mental disorders [2]. In the development of adult antisocial and violent behavior, the environmental factors considered influential include in utero exposure to pathogens and birth complications [3], childhood abuse or neglect [4], [5], and family relationships, home environment, and other social variables [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Trauma and Increased Risk for Physical Aggression during Adulthood: The Moderating Role of MAOA Genotype

et al. 2007

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Previous research has reported that a functional polymorphism in the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene promoter can moderate the association between early life adversity and increased risk for violence and antisocial behavior. In this study of a combined population of psychiatric outpatients and healthy volunteers (N = 235), we tested the hypothesis that MAOA genotype moderates the association between early traumatic life events (ETLE) experienced during the first 15 years of life and the display of physical aggression during adulthood, as assessed by the Aggression Questionnaire. An ANOVA model including gender, exposure to early trauma, and MAOA genotype as between-subjects factors showed significant MAOA×ETLE (F1,227 = 8.20, P = 0.005) and gender×MAOA×ETLE (F1,227 = 7.04, P = 0.009) interaction effects. Physical aggression scores were higher in men who had experienced early traumatic life events and who carried the low MAOA activity allele (MAOA-L). We repeated the analysis in the subgroup of healthy volunteers (N = 145) to exclude that the observed G×E interactions were due to the inclusion of psychiatric patients in our sample and were not generalizable to the population at large. The results for the subgroup of healthy volunteers were identical to those for the entire sample. The cumulative variance in the physical aggression score explained by the ANOVA effects involving the MAOA polymorphism was 6.6% in the entire sample and 12.1% in the sub-sample of healthy volunteers. Our results support the hypothesis that, when combined with exposure to early traumatic life events, low MAOA activity is a significant risk factor for aggressive behavior during adulthood and suggest that the use of dimensional measures focusing on behavioral aspects of aggression may increase the likelihood of detecting significant gene-by-environment interactions in studies of MAOA-related aggression.

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Interaction between birth complications and early maternal rejection in predisposing individuals to adult violence: specificity to serious, early-onset violence

Cited by 158 publications

References 24 publications

Human Aggression Across the Lifespan

Human Aggression Across the Lifespan

Experimentally Assessed Reactive Aggression in Borderline Personality Disorder

Early Trauma and Increased Risk for Physical Aggression during Adulthood: The Moderating Role of MAOA Genotype

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