The etiologic role of genetic and environmental factors in criminal behavior as determined from full- and half-sibling pairs: an evaluation of the validity of the twin method

Kendler, Kenneth S.; Lönn, Sara Larsson; Maes, Hermine H.; Sundquist, Jan; Sundquist, Kristina

doi:10.1017/s0033291714002979

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 32 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…The heritability estimates for CB, AUD and DA that we obtained from our sibling trios were very similar to those obtained from MZ and DZ twins from the same population using the same diagnostic methods. These results are consistent with two previous analyses of CB in full- and half-sibling pairs from Sweden using typical modeling approaches (rather than informative trios) which closely approximated results obtained from twins (Frisell et al 2012; Kendler et al 2015 a ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

A novel sibling-based design to quantify genetic and shared environmental effects: application to drug abuse, alcohol use disorder and criminal behavior

et al. 2016

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Background Twin studies have been criticized for upwardly biased estimates that might contribute to the missing heritability problem. Method We identified, from the general Swedish population born 1960–1990, informative sibships containing a proband, one reared-together full- or half-sibling and a full-, step- or half-sibling with varying degrees of childhood cohabitation with the proband. Estimates of genetic, shared and individual specific environment for drug abuse (DA), alcohol use disorder (AUD) and criminal behavior (CB), assessed from medical, legal or pharmacy registries, were obtained using Mplus. Results Aggregate estimates of additive genetic effects for DA, AUD and CB obtained separately in males and females varied from 0.46 to 0.73 and agreed with those obtained from monozygotic and dizygotic twins from the same population. Of 54 heritability estimates from individual classes of informative sibling trios (3 syndromes × 9 classes of trios × 2 sexes), heritability estimates from the siblings were lower, tied and higher than those from obtained from twins in 26, one and 27 comparisons, respectively. By contrast, of 54 shared environmental estimates, 33 were lower than those found in twins, one tied and 20 were higher. Conclusions With adequate information, human populations can provide many methods for estimating genetic and shared environmental effects. For the three externalizing syndromes examined, concerns that heritability estimates from twin studies are upwardly biased or were not generalizable to more typical kinds of siblings were not supported. Overestimation of heritability from twin studies is not a likely explanation for the missing heritability problem.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

A novel sibling-based design to quantify genetic and shared environmental effects: application to drug abuse, alcohol use disorder and criminal behavior

et al. 2016

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“…In our sample, half-siblings in each of the three age groups reported higher rates of cigarette use initiation than other pairs of individuals. The higher rate of cigarette use among pairs of half-siblings is consistent with previous work indicating that half-siblings in blended families have higher rates of externalizing problems, including substance use (Kendler et al, 2012) and criminal behavior (Kendler, Lönn, Maes, Sundquist, & Sundquist, 2015). Studies of the emotional well-being and adjustment of children and adolescents who experience changes in family structure reveals that externalizing problems might be due to receiving lower levels of parental emotional availability, experiencing multiple family transitions in family structure, or living in home environments characterized by parental discord (Marcynyszyn, Evans, & Eckenrode, 2008; Soloski & Berryhill, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Familial and Special Twin Influences on Cigarette Use Initiation

2017

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Background Shared experiences within families play an important role in the initiation of cigarette use among adolescents. Behavioral genetic studies using various samples have implicated that the shared environment that twins experience is an important source of influence on whether adolescents initiate cigarette use. Whether the special twin environment, in addition to the shared environment, contributes significantly to making twin siblings more similar in cigarette initiation and whether the influence of the special twin environment persists into adulthood is less clear. Methods Data for this study came from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. Twin, full-, and half-sibling pairs between the ages of 12 and 33 were separated into three age groups, with about 3,000 individuals in each age group. The proportion of variance in cigarette use initiation explained by genetic, shared, special twin, and unique environmental factors were examined. Results The results of separate age-moderated univariate variance decomposition models indicate that the special twin environment does not significantly contribute to the variance in cigarette use initiation in young adulthood. Conclusion Factors shared by members of a family but are not specific to being a twin, are important in determining whether adolescents will initiate the use of cigarettes.

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“…Still, future research should attempt to replicate the reported results with large twin samples to better control for genetic and shared environmental confounding. In light of this, it is worth noting that research has reported a similar degree of genetic and shared environmental influence on criminal and delinquent behavior in both twin and sibling samples (Connolly & Beaver, 2014; Kendler, Lönn, Maes, Sundquist, & Sundquist, 2015). Third, sexual abuse and family conflict, which are included in recent conceptualizations of ACEs, were not assessed in the CNLSY before age 18 and therefore not included in the analysis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Further Evaluating the Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Antisocial Behavior, and Violent Victimization: A Sibling-Comparison Analysis

Connolly

2019

Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice

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A developing line of research suggests that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) increase the risk for antisocial behavior and future victimization. However, the mechanisms that underlie this association remain largely speculative. To address this gap in the existing body of research, data on full siblings from a large population-based sample of youth were analyzed to evaluate the direct effect of ACEs on child antisocial behavior, adolescent delinquency, and young adult violent victimization after controlling for familial confounders. Traditional between-family analyses revealed that ACEs were significantly associated with higher levels of childhood antisocial behavior, adolescent delinquent behavior, and risk for violent crime victimization. After controlling for unmeasured common genetic and shared environmental confounds using fixed-effect sibling comparisons, siblings exposed to more ACEs did not demonstrate higher levels of antisocial behavior, delinquent behavior, or risk for future victimization. The implications of these results for future ACEs research are discussed.

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The etiologic role of genetic and environmental factors in criminal behavior as determined from full- and half-sibling pairs: an evaluation of the validity of the twin method

Cited by 15 publications

References 32 publications

A novel sibling-based design to quantify genetic and shared environmental effects: application to drug abuse, alcohol use disorder and criminal behavior

A novel sibling-based design to quantify genetic and shared environmental effects: application to drug abuse, alcohol use disorder and criminal behavior

Familial and Special Twin Influences on Cigarette Use Initiation

Further Evaluating the Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Antisocial Behavior, and Violent Victimization: A Sibling-Comparison Analysis

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