Genetically Adjusted Propensity Score Matching: A Comparison to Discordant MZ Twin Models.

Discordant monozygotic (MZ) twin methodologies are considered one of the foremost statistical approaches for estimating the influence of environmental factors on phenotypic variance. Limitations associated with the discordant MZ twin approach generates an inability to estimate particular relationships and adjust estimates for the confounding influence of gene-nonshared environment interactions. Recent advancements in molecular genetics, however, can provide the opportunity to address these limitations. The current study reviews an alternative technique, genetically adjusted propensity scores (GAPS) matching, that integrates observed genetic and environmental information to adjust for the confounding of these factors in nonkin individuals. Simulations and a real data example were used to compare the GAPS matching approach to the discordant MZ twin method. Although the results of the simulated comparisons demonstrated that the discordant MZ twin approach remains the more robust statistical technique to adjust for shared environmental and genetic factors, GAPS matching - under certain conditions - could represent a viable alternative when MZ twin samples are unavailable. Overall, the findings suggest that GAPS matching can potentially provide an alternative to the discordant MZ twin approach when limited variation exists between identical twin pairs. Moreover, the ability to adjust for gene-nonshared environment interactions represents a potential advancement associated with the GAPS approach. The limitations of the approach, as well as polygenic risk scores, are also discussed.

Heteropaternal Siblings Misclassified as Dizygotic Twins: A Potential Biasing Factor for Heritability Estimates?

Heteropaternal superfecundation (HP) occurs when two or more ova are fertilized by sperm from separate males. The resulting siblings are genetically equivalent to half-siblings and share, on average, 25% of their inherited genetic material. In the absence of genetic testing HP siblings could be treated as dizygotic (DZ) twins in behavioral genetic analyses and bias heritability estimates in phenotypic decomposition models. However, the extent to which such misclassification could affect calculated estimates of heritability is currently unknown. Employing simulation analyses, the current study assessed the potential biasing impact across a variety of conditions varying by proportions of DZ twins, sample sizes, and low, moderate, and high levels of genetic and environmental contribution to phenotypic variance. Overall, the results indicated that misclassified HP siblings had minimal impact on estimates of heritability. Nonetheless, greater attention should be paid to the identification of HP siblings within existing and future twin datasets.

Self-reported traumatic brain injury during key developmental stages: examining its effect on co-occurring psychological symptoms in an adjudicated sample.

Primary Objective: Prior research has demonstrated that traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with individual psychological symptoms. These findings, however, may not pertain to the influence of TBI during key developmental stages on the co-occurrence of negative psychological symptoms.Research Design: It was hypothesized that (H1) self-reported TBI is associated with adverse psychological effects, that (H2) self-reported TBI during adolescences is associated with both immediate and delayed adverse psychological effects, and finally, (H3) self-reported TBI during the early stages of adulthood is not associated with immediate psychological effects.Methods and Procedures: The current study employed a sample of adjudicated youth (N: 419 to 562) and structural equation modeling to estimate the association between self-reported TBI and subsequent adverse psychological effects.Results: Findings suggested that higher levels of self-reported TBI during adolescence were associated with higher levels of adverse psychological effects. These effects were both immediate and delayed. However, higher levels of self-reported TBI during adulthood were not associated with immediate adverse psychological effects.Conclusion: Overall, the findings suggest that deleterious outcomes related to self-reported TBI during key developmental stages include proximal and long-term adverse psychological effects.

Traumatic brain injury and adverse psychological effects: Examining a potential pathway to aggressive offending.

Contemporary scholarship has demonstrated an association between traumatic brain injury (TBI) during adolescence and aggressive offending. Research, however, has yet to identify any mechanisms linking TBI to subsequent aggressive offending. Consequently, the current study hypothesized that adverse psychological effects is one such pathway. The current study used the Pathways to Desistance data set (n = 416) to examine the pathway of TBI to aggressive offending through adverse psychological effects. The findings of the structural equation model supported the hypothesized association. Specifically, increased exposure to TBI was indirectly associated with aggressive offending through adverse psychological effects. An additional supplemental analysis illustrated that a direct link between TBI and aggressive offending did not exist for the analytical sample. The findings suggested that the neurological disruptions commonly associated with TBI could result in direct increases in negative psychological outcomes and indirect increases in subsequent negative behavioral outcomes.

The longitudinal associations between motivation, self-regulatory capacities, and future-oriented cognition and behavior among serious young offenders.

OBJECTIVES: The present study examined how changes in a set of motivational/self-regulatory factors were associated with subsequent change in future-oriented cognition and behavior. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that within-individual changes in aspirations, expectations, emotion regulation, resistance to peer influence, and impulse control would be positively associated with later change in future-oriented cognition and behavior. We also predicted that between-individual effects would be larger in magnitude than within-individual effects. METHOD: Serious young offenders (N = 1,318; M age = 16.04; 86% male) were followed over a 7-year period from adolescence to young adulthood during the Pathways to Desistance study. The analytical strategy incorporated both fixed and hybrid effects regression models to assess the time-ordered correlates of future-oriented cognition and behavior. RESULTS: Net of controls, within-individual changes in aspirations and expectations about the future, emotion regulation, and impulse control had statistically significant, positive associations with subsequent change in future-oriented cognition and behavior; however, between-person effects were much larger in magnitude than within-individual effects. CONCLUSIONS: Motivation and aspects of self-regulation are potentially important targets for correctional treatment and prevention efforts. Future orientation is an intermediate treatment mechanism worthy of further study. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The intersection of individual differences, personality variation, & military service: A twin comparison design.

In societies where military service is voluntary multiple factors are likely to affect the decision to enlist. Past research has produced evidence that a handful of personality and social factors seem to predict service in the military. However, recent quantitative genetic research has illustrated that enlistment in the military appears to be partially heritable and thus past research is potentially subject to genetic confounding. To assess the extent to which genetic confounding exists, the current study examined a wide range of individual-level factors using a subsample of twins (n = 1,232) from the restricted-use version of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The results of a series of longitudinal twin comparison models, which control for the latent sources of influence that cluster within families (i.e., shared genetic and family factors), illustrated generally null findings. However, individuals with higher scores on measures of extraversion and the general factor of personality were more likely to enlist in the military, after correction for familial confounding. Nonetheless, the overall results suggest that familial confounding should be a methodological concern in this area of research, and future work is encouraged to employ genetically informed methodologies in assessments of predictors of military enlistment.

Sexual Orientation and Involvement in Nonviolent and Violent Delinquent Behaviors: Findings From the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health.

This study examined the association between sexual orientation and nonviolent and violent delinquency across the life course. We analyzed self-reported nonviolent and violent delinquency in a sample of heterosexual males (N = 5220-7023) and females (N = 5984-7875), bisexuals (N = 34-73), gay males (N = 145-189), and lesbians (N = 115-150) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). The analyses revealed, in general, that bisexuals were the most delinquent of the sexual orientation categories for both males and females. Additional analyses revealed that heterosexual males reported significantly higher levels of both violent and nonviolent delinquency than gay males, whereas lesbians reported more involvement in nonviolent delinquency and, to a lesser extent, violent delinquency relative to heterosexual females. Analyses also revealed that lesbians reported significantly more delinquent behavior, particularly for nonviolent delinquency, than gay males. Future research should explore the mechanisms that account for these observed patterns and how they can be used to more fully understand the etiology of delinquency.

Proposing a Pedigree Risk Measurement Strategy: Capturing the Intergenerational Transmission of Antisocial Behavior in a Nationally Representative Sample of Adults.

An impressive literature has revealed that variation in virtually every measurable phenotype is the result of a combination of genetic and environmental influences. Based on these findings, studies that fail to use genetically informed modeling strategies risk model misspecification and biased parameter estimates. Twin- and adoption-based research designs have frequently been used to overcome this limitation. Despite the many advantages of such approaches, many available datasets do not contain samples of twins, siblings or adoptees, making it impossible to utilize these modeling strategies. The current study proposes a measurement strategy for estimating the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behavior (ASB) within a nationally representative sample of singletons using an extended pedigree risk approach that relies on information from first- and second-degree relatives. An evaluation of this approach revealed a pattern of findings that directly aligned with studies examining ASB using more traditional twin- and adoption-based research designs. While the proposed pedigree risk approach is not capable of effectively isolating genetic and environmental influences, this overall alignment in results provides tentative evidence suggesting that the proposed pedigree risk measure effectively captures genetic influences. Future replication studies are necessary as this observation remains preliminary. Whenever possible, more traditional quantitative genetic methodologies should be favored, but the presented strategy remains a viable alternative for more limited samples.

Different Slopes for Different Folks: Genetic Influences on Growth in Delinquent Peer Association and Delinquency During Adolescence.

An extensive line of research has identified delinquent peer association as a salient environmental risk factor for delinquency, especially during adolescence. While previous research has found moderate-to-strong associations between exposure to delinquent peers and a variety of delinquent behaviors, comparatively less scholarship has focused on the genetic architecture of this association over the course of adolescence. Using a subsample of kinship pairs (N = 2379; 52% female) from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child and Young Adult Supplement (CNLSY), the present study examined the extent to which correlated individual differences in starting levels and developmental growth in delinquent peer pressure and self-reported delinquency were explained by additive genetic and environmental influences. Results from a series of biometric growth models revealed that 37% of the variance in correlated growth between delinquent peer pressure and self-reported delinquency was explained by additive genetic effects, while nonshared environmental effects accounted for the remaining 63% of the variance. Implications of these findings for interpreting the nexus between peer effects and adolescent delinquency are discussed.

Predicting Moffitt's Developmental Taxonomy of Antisocial Behavior Using Life History Theory: A Partial Test of the Evolutionary Taxonomy.

Evolutionary criminology is an approach to the understanding of crime and criminality that is based in part on key aspects of evolutionary psychology. The approach allows for a renewed examination of traditional criminological assumptions and can serve to further enhance theoretical viewpoints on antisocial behavior. The recently developed evolutionary taxonomy theory is an example of such an approach. Relying on the tenets of life history theory, the evolutionary taxonomy was proposed as a theoretical scaffolding for Moffitt's developmental taxonomy of offending. While recent tests of the evolutionary taxonomy have been informative, lacking from the existing literature is an assessment of the extent to which measures of life history theory can predict classification into offending groups based on Moffitt's developmental taxonomy. The current study provided a partial test of classification predictions using the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescence to Adult Health study (n = 12,012). Results of multivariable regression analyses indicated that measures associated with somatic effort and aspects of the developmental environment were predictive of group classification, but measures associated with reproductive effort were not. Implications for evolutionary criminology and traditional criminology are discussed.

Incarceration of Youths in an Adult Correctional Facility and Risk of Premature Death.

Importance: Youths incarcerated in adult correctional facilities are exposed to a variety of adverse circumstances that could diminish psychological and physical health, potentially leading to early mortality. Objective: To evaluate whether being incarcerated in an adult correctional facility as a youth was associated with mortality between 18 and 39 years of age. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study relied on longitudinal data collected from 1997 to 2019 as part of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1997, a nationally representative sample of 8984 individuals born in the United States between January 1, 1980, and December 1, 1984. The data analyzed for the current study were derived from annual interviews between 1997 and 2011 and interviews every other year from 2013 to 2019 (19 interviews in total). Participants were limited to respondents aged 17 years or younger during the 1997 interview and alive during their 18th birthday (8951 individuals; >99% of the original sample). Statistical analysis was performed from November 2022 to May 2023. Intervention: Incarceration in an adult correctional facility before the age of 18 years compared with being arrested before the age of 18 years or never arrested or incarcerated before the age of 18 years. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome for the study was age at mortality between 18 and 39 years of age. Results: The sample of 8951 individuals included 4582 male participants (51%), 61 American Indian or Alaska Native participants (1%), 157 Asian participants (2%), 2438 Black participants (27%), 1895 Hispanic participants (21%), 1065 participants of other race (12%), and 5233 White participants (59%). A total of 225 participants (3%) died during the study period, with a mean (SD) age at death of 27.7 (5.9) years. Incarceration in an adult correctional facility before the age of 18 years was associated with an increased risk of earlier mortality between 18 and 39 years of age compared with individuals who were never arrested or incarcerated before the age of 18 years (time ratio, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.47-0.95). Being arrested before the age of 18 years was associated with an increased risk of earlier mortality between 18 and 39 years of age when compared with individuals who were never arrested or incarcerated before the age of 18 years (time ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.73-0.93). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of 8951 youths, the survival model suggested that being incarcerated in an adult correctional facility may be associated with an increased risk of early mortality between 18 and 39 years of age.

Testing Environmental Effects on Age at Menarche and Sexual Debut within a Genetically Informative Twin Design.

Life-history-derived models of female sexual development propose menarche timing as a key regulatory mechanism driving subsequent sexual behavior. The current research utilized a twin subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health; n = 514) to evaluate environmental effects on timings of menarche and sexual debut, as well as address potential confounding of these effects within a genetically informative design. Results show mixed support for each life history model and provide little evidence rearing environment is important in the etiology of individual differences in age at menarche. This research calls into question the underlying assumptions of life-history-derived models of sexual development and highlights the need for more behavior genetic research in this area.

Genetic risks and ADHD symptomatology: exploring the effects of parental antisocial behaviors in an adoption-based study.

A great deal of research has examined the etiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and ADHD symptomatologies. Genetic factors are consistently shown to explain a significant proportion of variance in measures of ADHD. The current study adds to this body of research by examining whether genetic liabilities for criminality and alcoholism have effects on the development of ADHD symptomatologies. Analyses based on a sample of adoptees drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) revealed that ADHD symptomatologies were elevated among adoptees who had biological mothers and fathers who had been arrested or who were alcoholics. These results suggest that part of the covariation between ADHD and antisocial behaviors may be the result of genetic factors that have general effects across a range of maladaptive outcomes.

Heteropaternal twinning: Unique case of opposite-sex twins with different fathers.

A presumably rare, but naturally occurring twinning event is heteropaternal (HP) twinning. HP twinning results from superfecundation, a reproductive process in which offspring share their mothers, but not their fathers. The resulting twins share an average of 25% of their segregating genes, the same proportion as half-siblings. A recently identified case of HP opposite-sex twins was confirmed by DNA analyses available for the twins and for multiple family members. Thus, an exceptional feature of the current report is the inclusion of data for the twins' brothers, sisters, half-siblings, nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as several parent-child pairs. HP twins often go unnoticed so are typically classified as dizygotic (DZ) twins whose genetic overlap is 50%, on average, but varies across traits. As a unique category of non-identical twins, HP twinning is important to acknowledge as it may affect twins' physical resemblance, behavioral similarity, personal identity, family relations and health concerns. While including HP pairs in twin research has been shown to have minimal impact on heritability estimates, it could conceivably affect the outcomes of small-scale studies. Given a lack of consistent and known prevalence, case studies provide valuable knowledge regarding the occurrence of HP twinning. Its implications for forensic science and for twin research are considerable.

The Psychometrics of the Mini-K.

Many published studies have employed the Mini-K to measure a single fast-slow life history dimension. However, the internal structure of the Mini-K has not been determined and it is not clear that a single higher order K-factor fits the data. It is also not clear that the Mini-K is measurement invariant across groups such as the sexes. To establish the construct validity of K as well as the broader usefulness of applying life history theory to humans, it is crucial that these psychometric issues are addressed as a part of measure validation efforts. Here we report on three studies that used latent variable modeling and data drawn from two college student samples ( ns = 361 and 300) to elucidate the psychometrics of the Mini-K. We found that (a) the Mini-K had a six dimensional first-order structure, (b) the K-factor provided a parsimonious explanation of the associations among the lower order factors at no significant cost to fit, (c) the Mini-K measured the same K-factor across the sexes, (d) K-factor means did not have the same meaning across the sexes and thus the first-order factors should be used in studies of mean sex differences, and finally, (e) the K-factor was only associated with environment and aspects of mating competition in females. Implications and future directions for life history research are discussed.

The prevalence of discrimination across racial groups in contemporary America: Results from a nationally representative sample of adults.

A large body of social science research is devoted to understanding the causes and correlates of discrimination. Comparatively less effort has been aimed at providing a general prevalence estimate of discrimination using a nationally representative sample. The current study is intended to offer such an estimate using a large sample of American respondents (N = 14,793) while also exploring perceptions regarding why respondents felt they were discriminated against. The results provide a broad estimate of self-reported discrimination experiences-an event that was only reported by about one-quarter of all sample members-across racial and ethnic categories.

Social bias and the development of self-control: results from a longitudinal study of children and adolescents.

Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime has sparked a tremendous amount of research examining the link between levels of self-control and involvement in delinquent and criminal acts. Recently, studies testing this theory have begun to investigate the factors that are related to the development of self-control. The current study expands on this body of research by examining whether social bias, as measured by the ability to identify facial expressions, contributes to variation in self-control in a sample of children. Analysis of data drawn from the National Survey of Children revealed some evidence that children who had difficulty correctly identifying facial expressions depicting fear and happiness had lower levels of self-control, whereas errors in identifying faces expressing anger were related to higher levels of self-control. The authors discuss the need for Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory on the development of self-control to be expanded.