Genetic and Environmental Contributions to the Development of Childhood Aggression

Longitudinal data from a large sample of twins participating in the Netherlands Twin Register (n = 42,827, age range 3-16) were analyzed to investigate the genetic and environmental contributions to childhood aggression. Genetic auto-regressive (simplex) models were used to assess whether the same genes are involved or whether new genes come into play as children grow up. The authors compared 2 different simplex models to disentangle potentially changing behavioral expressions from changes in genetic and environmental effects. One model provided estimates of genetic and environmental effects a... Mehr ...