Monoamine Oxidase A (MAOA) and Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Gene Polymorphisms Interact with Maternal Parenting in Association with Adolescent Reactive Aggression but not Proactive Aggression: Evidence of Differential Susceptibility

Abstract

To date, whether and how gene-environment (G × E) interactions operate differently across distinct subtypes of aggression remains untested. More recently, in contrast with the diathesis-stress hypothesis, an alternative hypothesis of differential susceptibility proposes that individuals could be differentially susceptible to environments depending on their genotypes in a "for better and for worse" manner. The current study examined interactions between monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) T941G and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val158Met polymorphisms with maternal parenting on two types of aggression: reactive and proactive. Moreover, whether these potential G × E interactions would be consistent with the diathesis-stress versus the differential susceptibility hypothesis was tested. Within the sample of 1399 Chinese Han adolescents (47.2 % girls, M age = 12.32 years, SD = 0.50), MAOA and COMT genes both interacted with positive parenting in their associations with reactive but not proactive aggression. Adolescents with T alleles/TT homozygotes of MAOA gene or Met alleles of COMT gene exhibited more reactive aggression when exposed to low positive parenting, but less reactive aggression when exposed to high positive parenting. These findings provide the first evidence for distinct G × E interaction effects on reactive versus proactive aggression and lend further support for the differential susceptibility hypothesis.

COMT and prenatal maternal smoking in associations with conduct problems and crime: the Pelotas 1993 birth cohort study

“…In a recent review, the COMT gene was highlighted as one of the four most studied genes related to dopamine and serotonin pathways in association with aggression-related phenotypes 21 . Recent GxE studies have shown that COMT genotypes may modify the sensivity to environments that confer either risk or protection for aggressive behavior 22 23 24 .…”

The effects of violent video games and shyness on individuals’ aggressive behaviors

“… Note: Female, nonshy individuals, and nonVVG were coded as 0; male, shy individuals, and VVG were coded as 1; Pearson correlation is equivalent to the t test effect (Zhang, Cao, Wang, Ji, & Cao, ).…”

Parental warmth interacts with several genes to affect executive function components: a genome-wide environment interaction study

“…Parenting behaviors have been found to interact with genes to affect human traits like creativity [24], depression [25], aggression [26], externalizing behavior [27], self-control [28], as well as EF [16,17]. Researchers have proposed that parenting behaviors likely influence the way children cope with stress, resulting in epigenetic changes in the HPA axis such as glucocorticoid receptor expression [29] or in the neurotransmitter systems such as dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin [30].…”