Predicting Involvement with the Justice System using Five Genome-wide Polygenic Scores across Three Cohorts

• In Event: Sociogenomics: Integrating Whole-Genome Technology with Criminological Theory

Abstract

A number of genome-wide polygenic scores (PGS) have been theoretically and/or empirically linked to factors known to be related to criminal justice outcomes such as ADHD, aggression, antisocial behavior, educational attainment, and reproductive behavior. But which of these scores is currently the best predictor of criminal justice outcomes? To address this question, PGSs for each factor are created and used to predict involvement with the justice system across three large, independent cohorts: the Add Health, the Health and Retirement Study, and the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. We utilize a novel technique, GenomicSEM, to create a single PGS that combines information from all five individual PGSs to gain predictive power. Findings will be contextualized by considering their implications for avenues of future research.

Authors

• Ryan Motz, University of Cincinnati

• J.C. Barnes, University of Cincinnati

• Hexuan Liu, University of Cincinnati