Assesssing the Salience of Gene-Environment Interplay in the Development of Anger, Family Conflict, and Physical Violence: A Biosocial Test of General Strain Theory

• In Event: Cutting-Edge Biosocial Criminological Research

Abstract

Agnew’s general strain theory (GST) of crime and delinquency has received a considerable amount of empirical support. Despite the wealth of previous support, Agnew (2014) has recently called for GST research to account for both biological and social factors in order to adequately explain crime and delinquency. No criminological research, however, has evaluated gene-environment interplay in the development of strain, anger, and violent crime. The goal of the current study was to fill this void in the current literature by (1) estimating the genetic and environmental effects on the co-occurrence between anger and family conflict (gene-environment correlation [rGE]), (2) evaluating whether variation in family conflict moderates genetic risk for anger (gene x environment interaction [GxE]) and (3) estimating the genetic and environmental effects on the association between anger and physical violence. Implications for future GST research and behavioral intervention/prevention programs are discussed.

Authors

• Eric J. Connolly, Pennsylvania State University, Abington

• Kevin M. Beaver, Florida State University