Hostname: page-component-546b4f848f-q5mmw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2023-06-03T03:47:48.031Z Has data issue: false Feature Flags: { "useRatesEcommerce": true } hasContentIssue false
  • English

How should we understand the absence of sex differences in the genetic and environmental origins of antisocial behavior?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2019

S. Alexandra Burt Open the ORCID record for S. Alexandra Burt[Opens in a new window] ,
Brooke L. Slawinski ,
E. Elisa Carsten ,
K. Paige Harden ,
Luke W. Hyde  and
Kelly L. Klump
S. Alexandra Burt*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 107D Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
Brooke L. Slawinski
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 107D Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
E. Elisa Carsten
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 107D Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, USA
K. Paige Harden
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Luke W. Hyde
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, USA
Kelly L. Klump
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, 107D Psychology Building, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA
*
Author for correspondence: S. Alexandra Burt, E-mail: burts@msu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions[Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Available twin-family data on sex differences in antisocial behavior (ASB) simultaneously suggest that ASB is far more prevalent in males than in females, and that its etiology (i.e. the effects of genes, environments, hormones, culture) does not differ across sex. This duality presents a conundrum: How do we make sense of mean sex differences in ASB if not via differences in genes, environments, hormones, and/or cultures? The current selective review and critique explores possible contributions to these seemingly incompatible sets of findings. We asked whether the presence of sex differences in behavior could be smaller than is typically assumed, or confined to a specific set of behaviors. We also asked whether there might be undetected differences in etiology across sex in twin-family studies. We found little evidence that bias or measurement invariance across sex account for phenotypic sex differences in ASB, but we did identify some key limitations to current twin-family approaches. These included the questionable ability of qualitative sex difference analyses to detect gender norms and prenatal exposure to testosterone, and concerns regarding specific analytic components of quantitative sex difference analyses. We conclude that the male preponderance in ASB is likely to reflect a true sex difference in observed behavior. It was less clear, however, that the genetic and environmental contributions to ASB are indeed identical across sex, as argued by prior twin-family studies. It is our hope that this review will inspire the development of new, genetically-informed methods for studying sex differences in etiology.

Keywords

Antisocial behaviorsex differencestwin-family studies
Type
Invited Review
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 49 , Issue 10 , July 2019 , pp. 1600 - 1607
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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

Alegria, AA, Radua, J and Rubia, K (2016) Meta-analysis of fMRI studies of disruptive behavior disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 173, 1119–1130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Archer, J (2004) Sex differences in aggression in real-world settings: a meta-analytic review. Review of General Psychology 8, 291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bartels, M, Hudziak, J, Van den Oord, E, Van Beijsterveldt, C, Rietveld, M and Boomsma, D (2003) Co-occurrence of aggressive behavior and rule-breaking behavior at age 12: multi-rater analyses. Behavior Genetics 33, 607–621.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Björkqvist, K (1994) Sex differences in physical, verbal, and indirect aggression: a review of recent research. Sex Roles 30, 177–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Breslau, J, Borges, G, Saito, N, Tancredi, DJ, Benjet, C, Hinton, L, Kendler, KS, Kravitz, R, Vega, W, Aguilar-Gaxiola, S and Medina-Mora, ME (2011) Migration from Mexico to the United States and Conduct Disorder: a cross-national study. Archives of General Psychiatry 68, 1284–1293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burt, SA (2009 a) Are there meaningful etiological differences within antisocial behavior? Results of a meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review 29, 163–178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burt, SA (2009 b) Rethinking environmental contributions to child and adolescent psychopathology: a meta-analysis of shared environmental influences. Psychological Bulletin 135, 608–637.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burt, SA (2012) How do we optimally conceptualize the heterogeneity within antisocial behavior? An argument for aggressive versus non-aggressive behavioral dimensions. Clinical Psychology Review 32, 263–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burt, SA, Krueger, RF, McGue, M and Iacono, WG (2001) Sources of covariation among ADHD, CD, and ODD: the importance of shared environment. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 110, 516–525.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burt, SA, Slawinski, BL and Klump, KL (2018) Are there sex differences in the etiology of youth antisocial behavior? Journal of Abnormal Psychology 127, 66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Card, NA, Stucky, BD, Sawalani, GM and Little, TD (2008) Direct and indirect aggression during childhood and adolescence: a meta-analytic review of gender differences, intercorrelations, and relations to maladjustment. Child Development 79, 1185–1229.10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01184.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carré, JM, Hyde, LW, Neumann, CS, Viding, E and Hariri, AR (2012) The neural signature of distinct psychopathic traits. Social Neuroscience 8, 122–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cloninger, CR, Christiansen, KO, Reich, T and Gottesman, II (1978) Implications of sex differences in the prevalences of antisocial personality, alcoholism, and criminality for familial transmission. Archives of General Psychiatry 35, 941–951.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen-Bendahan, CC, Buitelaar, JK, van Goozen, SH and Cohen-Kettenis, PT (2004) Prenatal exposure to testosterone and functional cerebral lateralization: a study in same-sex and opposite-sex twin girls. Psychoneuroendocrinology 29, 911–916.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen-Bendahan, CC, Buitelaar, JK, Van Goozen, SH, Orlebeke, JF and Cohen-Kettenis, PT (2005) Is there an effect of prenatal testosterone on aggression and other behavioral traits? A study comparing same-sex and opposite-sex twin girls. Hormones and Behavior 47, 230–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crick, NR and Grotpeter, JK (1995) Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development 66, 710–722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crick, NR, Ostrov, JM and Kawabata, Y (2007) Relational aggression and gender: An overview. In Flannery, DJ, Vazsonyi, AT and Waldman, ID (eds), The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, pp. 245–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crooks, D, Anderson, NE, Widdows, M, Petseva, N, Decety, J, Pluto, C and Kiehl, KA (2018 a) The relationship between cavum septum pellucidum and psychopathic traits in female offenders. Behavioural Brain Research 112, 95–104.Google Scholar
Crooks, D, Anderson, NE, Widdows, M, Petseva, N, Koenigs, M, Pluto, C and Kiehl, KA (2018 b) The relationship between cavum septum pellucidum and psychopathic traits in a large forensic sample. Neuropsychologia 112, 95–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cross, CP, Copping, LT and Campbell, A (2011) Sex differences in impulsivity: a meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 137, 97.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Daly, M and Wilson, M (1990) Killing the competition. Human Nature 1, 81–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Los Reyes, A and Kazdin, AE (2005) Informant discrepancies in the assessment of childhood psychopathology: a critical review, theoretical framework, and recommendations for further study. Psychological Bulletin 131, 483–509.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dotterer, HL, Hyde, LW, Swartz, JR, Hariri, AR and Williamson, DE (2017) Amygdala reactivity predicts adolescent antisocial behavior but not callous-unemotional traits. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience 24, 84–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreher, J-C, Schmidt, PJ, Kohn, P, Furman, D, Rubinow, D and Berman, KF (2007) Menstrual cycle phase modulates reward-related neural function in women. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104, 2465–2470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eaves, LJ, Silberg, JL, Meyer, JM, Maes, HH, Simonoff, E, Pickles, A, Rutter, M, Neale, M, Reynolds, CA, Erikson, MT, Heath, AC, Loeber, R, Truett, KR and Hewitt, J (1997) Genetics and developmental psychopathology: 2. The main effects of genes and environment on behavioral problems in the Virginia twin study of adolescent development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38, 965–980.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eisenberg, N and Lennon, R (1983) Sex differences in empathy and related capacities. Psychological Bulletin 94, 100–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eley, TC, Lichtenstein, P and Stevenson, J (1999) Sex differences in the etiology of aggressive and nonaggressive antisocial behavior: results from two twin studies. Child Development 70, 155–168.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fairchild, G, Hagan, CC, Walsh, ND, Passamonti, L, Calder, AJ and Goodyer, IM (2013) Brain structure abnormalities in adolescent girls with conduct disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 54, 86–95.10.1111/j.1469-7610.2012.02617.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fonseca-Pedrero, E, Sierra-Baigrie, S, Lemos-GirÂldez, S, Paino, M and Muñiz, J (2012) Dimensional structure and measurement invariance of the Youth Self-Report across gender and age. Journal of Adolescent Health 50, 148–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gelhorn, HL, Stallings, MC, Young, SE, Corley, RP, Rhee, SH and Hewitt, JK (2005) Genetic and environmental influences on conduct disorder: symptom, domain, and full-scale analyses. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 46, 580–591.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gray, JA (1971) Sex differences in emotional behaviour in mammals including man: endocrine bases. Acta Psychologica 35, 29–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyde, JS (1984) How large are gender differences in aggression? A developmental meta-analysis. Developmental Psychology 20, 722.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyde, JS (2005) The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist 60, 581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyde, LW, Shaw, DS and Hariri, AR (2013) Neuroscience, developmental psychopathology and youth antisocial behavior: review, integration, and directions for research. Developmental Review 33, 168–223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hyde, LW, Byrd, AL, Votruba-Drzal, E, Hariri, AR and Manuck, SB (2014) Antisocial behavior and amygdala reactivity: divergent correlates of antisocial personality and psychopathy traits in a community sample. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 123, 214–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobson, KC, Prescott, CA and Kendler, KS (2002) Sex differences in the genetic and environmental influences on the development of antisocial behavior. Development and Psychopathology 14, 395–416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keenan, K and Shaw, D (1997) Developmental and social influences on young girls' early problem behavior. Psychological Bulletin 121, 95.10.1037/0033-2909.121.1.95CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knight, GP, Fabes, RA and Higgins, DA (1996) Concerns about drawing causal inferences from meta-analyses: an example in the study of gender differences in aggression. Psychological Bulletin 119, 410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lenroot, RK and Giedd, JN (2010) Sex differences in the adolescent brain. Brain and Cognition 72, 46–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maccoby, EE and Jacklin, CN (1980) Sex differences in aggression: a rejoinder and reprise. Child Development 51, 964–980.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manson, JH, Wrangham, RW, Boone, JL, Chapais, B, Dunbar, R, Ember, CR, Irons, W, Marchant, L, McGrew, W and Nishida, T (1991) Intergroup aggression in chimpanzees and humans [and comments and replies]. Current Anthropology 32, 369–390.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moffitt, TE (2003) Life-course persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial behavior: a research review and a research agenda. In Lahey, B, Moffitt, TE and Caspi, A (eds), The Causes of Conduct Disorder and Serious Juvenile Delinquency. New York: Guilford, pp. 49–75.Google Scholar
Neale, MC, Røysamb, E and Jacobson, K (2006) Multivariate genetic analysis of sex limitation and G × E interaction. Twin Research and Human Genetics 9, 481–489.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Palmieri, PA and Smith, GC (2007) Examining the structural validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in a US sample of custodial grandmothers. Psychological Assessment 19, 189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramirez, JM, Andreu, JM and Fujihara, T (2001) Cultural and sex differences in aggression: a comparison between Japanese and Spanish students using two different inventories. Aggressive Behavior 27, 313–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rhee, S and Waldman, ID (2002) Genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior: a meta-analysis of twin and adoption studies. Psychological Bulletin 128, 490–529.10.1037/0033-2909.128.3.490CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, RJ, Dick, DM, Viken, RJ, Pulkkinen, L and Kaprio, J (2004) Genetic and environmental effects on conduct disorder and alcohol dependence symptoms and their covariation at age 14. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 28, 1541–1548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruigrok, AN, Salimi-Khorshidi, G, Lai, M-C, Baron-Cohen, S, Lombardo, MV, Tait, RJ and Suckling, J (2014) A meta-analysis of sex differences in human brain structure. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 39, 34–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryan, BC and Vandenbergh, JG (2002) Intrauterine position effects. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 26, 665–678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmitt, DP, Realo, A, Voracek, M and Allik, J (2008) Why can't a man be more like a woman? Sex differences in Big Five personality traits across 55 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 94, 168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silberg, JL, Erickson, MT, Meyer, JM, Eaves, LJ, Rutter, ML and Hewitt, JK (1994) The application of structural equation modeling to maternal ratings of twins' behavioral and emotional problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 62, 510.Google ScholarPubMed
Silverman, IW (2003) Gender differences in delay of gratification: a meta-analysis. Sex Roles 9, 451–463.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slutske, WS, Heath, AC, Dinwiddie, SH, Madden, PAF, Bucholz, KK, Dunne, MP, Statham, DJ and Martin, NG (1997) Modeling genetic and environmental influences in the etiology of conduct disorder: a study of 2682 adult twin pairs. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 106, 266–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smits, IAM, Theunissen, MHC, Reijneveld, SA, Nauta, MH and Timmerman, ME (2018) Measurement invariance of the parent version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) across community and clinical populations. European Journal of Psychological Assessment 34, 238–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spencer, D, Pasterski, V, Neufeld, S, Glover, V, O'connor, TG, Hindmarsh, PC, Hughes, IA, Acerini, CL and Hines, M (2017) Prenatal androgen exposure and children's aggressive behavior and activity level. Hormones and Behavior 96, 156–165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, JS and Hamann, S (2012) Sex differences in brain activation to emotional stimuli: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Neuropsychologia 50, 1578–1593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tapp, AL, Maybery, MT and Whitehouse, AJ (2011) Evaluating the twin testosterone transfer hypothesis: a review of the empirical evidence. Hormones and Behavior 60, 713–722.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, J, McGue, M and Iacono, WG (2000) Sex differences, assortative mating, and cultural transmission effects on adolescent delinquency: a twin family study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 41, 433–440.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tielbeek, JJ, Johansson, A, Polderman, TJ, Rautiainen, M-R, Jansen, P, Taylor, M, Tong, X, Lu, Q, Burt, AS and Tiemeier, H (2017) Genome-wide association studies of a broad spectrum of antisocial behavior. JAMA Psychiatry 74, 1242–1250.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turkheimer, E, Beam, CR, Sundet, JM and Tambs, K (2017) Interaction between parental education and twin correlations for cognitive ability in a Norwegian conscript sample. Behavior Genetics 47, 507–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Oord, EJ, Boomsma, DI and Verhulst, FC (1994) A study of problem behaviors in 10-to 15-year-old biologically related and unrelated international adoptees. Behavior Genetics 24, 193–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Hulle, CA, Rodgers, JL, D'Onofrio, BM, Waldman, ID and Lahey, BB (2007) Sex differences in the causes of self-reported adolescent delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 116, 236–248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Lier, PAC, Vitaro, F, Barker, ED, Koot, HM and Tremblay, RE (2009) Developmental links between trajectories of physical violence, vandalism, theft, and alcohol-drug use from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 37, 481–492.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Verhulst, B, Prom-Wormley, E, Keller, M, Medland, S and Neale, MC (2019) Type I error rates and parameter bias in multivariate behavioral genetic models. Behavior Genetics 49, 99–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waller, R, Murray, L, Dotterer, H and Hyde, L (2015) Neuroimaging approaches to understanding youth antisocial behavior. In Toga, AW (ed.), Brain Mapping: An Encyclopedic Referenece. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Academic Press: Elsevier, pp. 1001–1009.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waller, R, Corral-Frías, NS, Vannucci, B, Bogdan, R, Knodt, AR, Hariri, AR and Hyde, LW (2016) An oxytocin receptor polymorphism predicts amygdala reactivity and antisocial behavior in men. Social Cognitive And Affective Neuroscience 11, 1218–1226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed