Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T13:26:04.487Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investigating genetic and environmental contributions to adolescent externalizing behavior in a collectivistic culture: a multi-informant twin study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2015

J. Chen ,
J. Yu ,
J. Zhang ,
X. Li  and
M. McGue
J. Chen*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
J. Yu
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, MD, USA
J. Zhang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
X. Li
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
M. McGue
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
*
* Address for correspondence: Dr J. Chen, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, LinCui Road 16, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, China. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Little is known about the etiology of adolescents’ externalizing behavior (Ext) in collectivistic cultures. We aimed to fill this gap by investigating the genetic and environmental influences on Ext in Chinese adolescents. The etiological heterogeneity of aggression (AGG) and rule breaking (RB) was also examined.

Method

The study sample included 908 pairs of same-sex twins aged from 10 to 18 years (mean = 13.53 years, s.d. = 2.26). Adolescents’ Ext were assessed with the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment including Child Behavior Checklist, Teacher Report Form, and Youth Self-Report.

Results

Univariate genetic analyses showed that genetic influences on all measures were moderate ranging from 34% to 50%, non-shared environmental effects ranged from 23% to 52%, and shared environmental effects were significant in parent- and teacher-reported measures ranging from 29% to 43%. Bivariate genetic analyses indicated that AGG and RB shared large genetic influences (rg = 0.64–0.79) but moderate non-shared environmental factors (re = 0.34–0.52).

Conclusions

Chinese adolescents’ Ext was moderately influenced by genetic factors. AGG and RB had moderate independent genetic and non-shared environmental influences, and thus constitute etiologically distinct dimensions within Ext in Chinese adolescents. The heritability of AGG, in particular, was smaller in Chinese adolescents than suggested by previous data obtained on Western peers. This study suggests that the collectivistic cultural values and Confucianism philosophy may attenuate genetic potential in Ext, especially AGG.

Keywords

Chinese adolescentscultureexternalizing behaviorheritabilitytwin
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 45 , Issue 9 , July 2015 , pp. 1989 - 1997
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, TM (2006). As others see us clinical and research implications of cross-informant correlations for psychopathology. Current Directions in Psychological Science 15, 94–98.Google Scholar
Achenbach, TM, Rescorla, LA (2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms & Profiles. University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families: Burlington, VT.Google Scholar
Bergeron, N, Schneider, BH (2005). Explaining cross-national differences in peer-directed aggression: a quantitative synthesis. Aggressive Behavior 31, 116–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergmüller, S (2013). The relationship between cultural individualism, collectivism and student aggression across 62 countries. Aggressive Behavior 39, 182–200.Google Scholar
Boutwell, BB, Beaver, KM, Barnes, JC, Vaske, J (2012). The developmental origins of externalizing behavioral problems: parental disengagement and the role of gene–environment interplay. Psychiatry Research 197, 337–344.Google Scholar
Brendgen, M, Girard, A, Vitaro, F, Dionne, G, Boivin, M (2013). Do peer group norms moderate the expression of genetic risk for aggression? Journal of Criminal Justice 41, 324–330.Google Scholar
Bronfenbrenner, U, Ceci, SJ (1994). Nature-nuture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: a bioecological model. Psychological Review 101, 568–586.Google Scholar
Brook, JS, Lee, JY, Finch, SJ, Brown, EN, Brook, DW (2013). Long-term consequences of membership in trajectory groups of delinquent behavior in an urban sample: violence, drug use, interpersonal, and neighborhood attributes. Aggressive Behavior 39, 440–452.Google Scholar
Burt, SA (2009a). Are there meaningful etiological differences within antisocial behavior? Results of a meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review 29, 163–178.Google Scholar
Burt, SA (2009b). Rethinking environmental contributions to child and adolescent psychopathology: a meta-analysis of shared environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin 135, 608–637.Google Scholar
Burt, SA (2011). Some key issues in the study of gene–environment interplay: activation, deactivation, and the role of development. Research in Human Development 8, 192–210.Google Scholar
Burt, SA (2013). Do etiological influences on aggression overlap with those on rule breaking? A meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine 43, 1801–1812.Google Scholar
Burt, SA, Klump, K (2014). Prosocial peer affiliation suppresses genetic influences on non-aggressive antisocial behaviors during childhood. Psychological Medicine 44, 821–830.Google Scholar
Chen, J, Li, X, Chen, Z, Yang, X, Zhang, J, Duan, Q, Ge, X (2010). Optimization of zygosity determination by questionnaire and DNA genotyping in Chinese adolescent twins. Twin Research and Human Genetics 13, 194–200.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, J, Li, X, Zhang, J, Natsuaki, MN, Leve, LD, Harold, GT, Zhang, J (2013). The Beijing Twin Study (BeTwiSt): a longitudinal study of child and adolescent development. Twin Research and Human Genetics 16, 91–97.Google Scholar
Chen, X (1994). Family conditions, parental acceptance, and social competence and aggression in Chinese children. Social Development 3, 269–290.Google Scholar
Chen, X, Rubin, KH, Li, Z (1995). Social functioning and adjustment in Chinese children: a longitudinal study. Developmental Psychology 31, 531–539.Google Scholar
Crick, NR (1995). Relational aggression: the role of intent attributions, feelings of distress, and provocation type. Development and Psychopathology 7, 313–313.Google Scholar
De Los Reyes, A, Thomas, SA, Goodman, KL, Kundey, SM (2013). Principles underlying the use of multiple informants’ reports. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 9, 123–149.Google Scholar
Dodge, KA, Coie, JD (1987). Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53, 1146–1158.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N, Cumberland, A, Spinrad, TL, Fabes, RA, Shepard, SA, Reiser, M, Guthrie, IK (2001). The relations of regulation and emotionality to children's externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Child Development 72, 1112–1134.Google Scholar
Hicks, BM, South, SC, DiRago, AC, Iacono, WG, McGue, M (2009). Environmental adversity and increasing genetic risk for externalizing disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry 66, 640–648.Google Scholar
Huang, H, Hong, JS, Espelage, DL (2013). Understanding factors associated with bullying and peer victimization in Chinese schools within ecological contexts. Journal of Child and Family Studies 22, 881–892.Google Scholar
Leung, PW, Kwong, S, Tang, C, Ho, T, Hung, S, Lee, C, Liu, W (2006). Test–retest reliability and criterion validity of the Chinese version of CBCL, TRF, and YSR. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47, 970–973.Google Scholar
Li, Y, Xie, H, Shi, J (2012). Chinese and American children's perceptions of popularity determinants: cultural differences and behavioral correlates. International Journal of Behavioral Development 36, 420–429.Google Scholar
Liu, X, Guo, C, Okawa, M, Zhai, J, Li, Y, Uchiyama, M, Kurita, H (2000). Behavioral and emotional problems in Chinese children of divorced parents. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 39, 896–903.Google Scholar
McGue, M, Bouchard, Jr TJ (1984) Adjustment of twin data for the effects of age and sex. Behavior Genetics 14, 325–343.Google Scholar
Oyserman, D, Coon, HM, Kemmelmeier, M (2002). Rethinking individualism and collectivism: evaluation of theoretical assumptions and meta-analyses. Psychological Bulletin 128, 3–72.Google Scholar
Pyrooz, DC, Decker, SH (2013). Delinquent behavior, violence, and gang involvement in China. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 29, 251–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shanahan, MJ, Hofer, SM (2005). Social context in gene–environment interactions: retrospect and prospect. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 60B, 65–76.Google Scholar
Tuvblad, C, Beaver, KM (2013). Genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior. Journal of Criminal Justice 41, 273–276.Google Scholar
Wen, M, Lin, D (2012). Child development in rural China: children left behind by their migrant parents and children of nonmigrant families. Child Development 83, 120–136.Google Scholar
Xu, Y, Zhang, Z (2008). Distinguishing proactive and reactive aggression in Chinese children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 36, 539–552.Google Scholar