Abstract
Purpose: The current study builds on a large body of research that has revealed that both genetic and environmental factors contribute to the development of antisocial behaviors. While a number of studies have indicated that stressful environments interact with specific genetic polymorphisms to create antisocial phenotypes, studies have not yet examined whether perceived prejudice and specific genetic polymorphisms combine together to predict criminal arrests over the life course.
Methods: The current study builds on the existing gene x environment literature by using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effects of MAOA and perceived prejudice on the probability of being arrested.
Results: The results of the multivariate models reveal a statistically significant gene x environment interaction between MAOA and perceived prejudice in the prediction of arrest for males.
Conclusions: The results indicate that the presence of both perceived prejudice and MAOA increase the likelihood of being arrested. The implications of these results are discussed and limitations are noted. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.