Assessing the salience of gene–environment interplay in the development of anger, family conflict, and physical violence: A biosocial test of General Strain Theory

a r t i c l e i n f o Keywords: Biosocial General strain theory Gene-environment interplay Behavior genetics Anger Purpose: Agnew (2014) has recently called for future research on General Strain Theory (GST) to focus on examining the interplay between genetic and environmental factors in order to more accurately understand the developmental origins of antisocial behavior. The current study aimed to answer this call by using kinship pair data from a longitudinal population-based sample. Methods: Behavioral genetic methods were used to assess gene–environment interplay between anger, family conflict, and violence using a subsample of kinship pairs drawn from the Child and Young Adult Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Results: Results revealed a significant shared genetic liability for anger and exposure to family conflict indicating gene–environment correlation (rGE). After controlling for rGE, nonshared environmental effects on anger were found to be stronger at higher levels of family conflict implying that family conflict experiences unique to each sibling were involved in creating individual differences in anger. Results also suggested that genetic and nonshared environmental effects accounted for the longitudinal association between anger and physical violence. Conclusions: Findings from the current study underscore the importance of using genetically informed method-ologies to identify underlying risk factors involved in both exposure and response to different forms of strain. Over the past 20 years, General Strain Theory (GST) has emerged as one of the most studied and tested individual-level theories of crime and delinquency. During this time, results from numerous studies have shown that exposure to various sources of strain increases the risk for violent and non-violent offending (Agnew, 2007). Research suggests , for instance, that peer rejection, homelessness, and other forms of victimization are associated with higher levels of antisocial behavior, with one of the most consistent criminogenic strains being family conflict. While Agnew has argued that prosocial environmental influences may protect individuals from the negative effects of different strains, an extensive line of GST research has found that exposure to family conflict is a consistent predictor of violent youth behavior Overall, these findings support Agnew's GST arguments that high levels of family conflict present negative stimuli, which in turn, likely increase individual resentment or anger towards others and elevate the risk for aggression. Less understood from a GST perspective , however, is why only some individuals exposed to high levels of family conflict engage in violent behavior while others …