Psychopathic personality development from ages 9 to 18: Genes and environment

Abstract

The genetic and environmental etiology of individual differences was examined in initial level and change in psychopathic personality from ages 9 to 18 years. A piecewise growth curve model, in which the first change score (G1) influenced all ages (9–10, 11–13, 14–15, and 16–18 years) and the second change score (G2) only influenced ages 14–15 and 16–18 years, fit the data better did than the standard single slope model, suggesting a turning point from childhood to adolescence. The results indicated that variations in levels and both change scores were mainly due to genetic (A) and nonshared environmental (E) influences (i.e., AE structure for G0, G1, and G2). No sex differences were found except on the mean values of level and change scores. Based on caregiver ratings, about 81% of variance in G0, 89% of variance in G1, and 94% of variance in G2 were explained by genetic factors, whereas for youth self-reports, these three proportions were 94%, 71%, and 66%, respectively. The larger contribution of genetic variance and covariance in caregiver ratings than in youth self-reports may suggest that caregivers considered the changes in their children to be more similar as compared to how the children viewed themselves.

Psychopathic personality traits in 5 year old twins: the importance of genetic and shared environmental influences

“…This has been found among adolescents (e.g., [5, 9, 25, 30, 47, 48, 64, 69, 70]), as well as among adults (e.g., [5, 10, 11, 44]). However, a more mixed pattern has been found across the few studies that have included children (i.e., participants 12 years of age or younger; see Table 1 for a summary).…”

Triarchic Psychopathy Dimensions in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): Investigating Associations with Genetic Variation in the Vasopressin Receptor 1A Gene

“…Similar to in humans (Farrington, 2006; Larsson et al, 2006; Tuvblad et al, 2016), recent quantitative genetics work in chimpanzees suggests that variability in psychopathy dimensions is heritable (Latzman et al, 2017). To date, however, little is known concerning specific genes that might explain the heritability of psychopathy.…”

“…Indeed, a replicable human literature has reported appreciable heritabilities for psychopathic tendencies (e.g., Blonigen et al, 2005, 2006; Viding et al, 2005; Brook et al, 2010; Bezdjian et al, 2011; Tuvblad et al, 2016). Taken together, the available research literature with humans clearly indicates an important contribution of genes to psychopathic tendencies.…”

The dark personality and psychopathology: Toward a brighter future.

“…And how do developmental changes in dark traits contribute to the emergence and maintenance of (vs. recovery from) psychopathology? Although developmental psychopathology work along these lines exists (Brummelman et al, 2015;Fontaine, Rijsdijk, McCrory, & Viding, 2010;Frick, Ray, Thornton, & Kahn, 2014;Tuvblad, Wang, Bezdjian, Raine, & Baker, 2016), we have only just begun to explore these important questions.…”