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Cited by 144Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentBullying, Victimization, and AggressionNeurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

Individual differences in aggression: Genetic analyses by age, gender, and informant in 3-, 7-, and 10-year-old Dutch Twins

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Hudziak, J. J., van Beijsterveldt, C. E. M., Bartels, M., Rietveld, M. J. H., Rettew, D. C., Derks, E. M., Boomsma, D. I.·2003·Behavior Genetics
DOI 10.1023/a:1025782918793
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Abstract

Aggression in humans is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. In this study we report on the aggressive behavior syndrome (AGG) in young children as defined by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Teacher Report Form (TRF). We assessed aggression in a large sample of Dutch twins at ages 3, 7, and 10 years. The purpose of this study was three-fold. First, we determined the number of children who are "clinically deviant" on the AGG scale. Second, we assessed the genetic and environmental contributions to AGG for the maternal, paternal, and teacher ratings at each age, for boys and girls. Third, we explored issues of rater bias by analyzing parental and teacher data simultaneously. CBCL data were available from mothers on 6436 three-year-old, 5451 seven-year-old, and 2972 ten-year-old twin pairs and CBCL data from fathers on 4207 three-year-old, 4269 seven-year-old, and 2295 ten-year-old twin pairs. Teacher report data from the TRF were collected for 1036 seven-year-old and 903 ten-year-old twin pairs from the Netherlands Twin Registry. Structural equation modeling was employed to obtain genetic and environmental estimates at each age. Analyses were conducted separately by age and informant, as well as simultaneously, for all informants. Differences in raw scores across gender were found, with boys being rated as more aggressive than girls by all informants. Mothers reported more symptoms than fathers, who reported more symptoms than teachers. Evidence for moderate to high genetic influence (51%-72%) was seen for AGG by all three informants at all ages with only small sex differences in heritability estimates. Best fitting models for AGG by parent reports also included a small contribution of common environment. The largest sex differences in heritabilities were seen at age 10. Contributions of common (13%-27%) and unique (16%-31%) environment were small to moderate. There was some evidence of genetic dominance by teacher report for 10-year-old girls.

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  • Aggressive behavior in childhood is influenced by genetic factors in all studies, and most of these studies also report shared environmental influences.

    “Aggressive behavior in childhood is influenced by genetic factors in all studies, and most of these studies also report shared environmental influences (Table 8.2; e.g., Baker et al., 2008; Eley et al., 1999; Hudziak et al., 2003; Schmitz et al., 1995; Simonoff et al., 1998; Tuvblad et al., 2009; van den Oord et al., 1996; Vierikko et al., 2004; but for an exception see Dionne et al., 2003; Taylor”

    From Human Aggression Across the Lifespan (2011) · cites this paper as Hudziak et al., 2003

  • Only a small handful of studies have reported significant differences in heritability of aggression for males and females, primarily for younger samples.

    “As indicated in Table 8.2, only a small handful of studies have reported significant differences in heritability of aggression for males and females (and these are primarily for younger samples; e.g., Hudziak et al., 2003; van Beijsterveldt et al., 2003; Vierikko et al., 2004).”

    From Human Aggression Across the Lifespan (2011) · cites this paper as Hudziak et al., 2003

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3 of the 61 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. Bergeman, C. S., and Seroczynski, A. D. (1998). Genetic and envi- ronmental influences on aggression and impulsivity. In M. Maes, and E. F. Coccaro (Eds.), Neurobiology and clinical views on aggression and impulsivity (Vol. 5); (pp. 63-80). Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
  2. Burke, J. D., Loeber, R., and Birmaher, B. (2000). Oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder: A review of the past 10 years: II. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry 39:1275-1293.
  3. Eaves, L. J. (1982). The utility of twins. In V. E. Anderson, W. A. Hauser, J. K. Penry, and C. F. Sing (Eds.), Genetic basis of the epilepsies (pp. 249-276). New York: Raven Press.
  4. Hudziak, J. J., Copeland, W., Stanger, C., and Wadsworth, M. (2003). Diagnosing externalizing behavior problems with the child be- havior checklist: A quality receiver-operating curve analysis. J. Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines (in press).
  5. Neale, M. C., Boker, S. M., Xie, G., and Maes, H. H. (1999). Mx: Statistical Modeling (5th ed.). VCU Box 900126, Richmond, VA 23298: Dept. of Psychiatry (5th ed.).

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Authors
Hudziak, J. J., van Beijsterveldt, C. E. M., Bartels, M., Rietveld, M. J. H., Rettew, D. C., Derks, E. M., & Boomsma, D. I.
Affiliations
  • University of Vermont (US)
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
Corresponding author
Hudziak, J. J.
ORCID
Venue
Behavior Genetics
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2003-09
Volume
33
Issue
5
Pages
575-589
ISSN
  • 0001-8244 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-3297
DOI
10.1023/a:1025782918793
OpenAlex
W2156145207
Cited by
144
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 7 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 8
FWCI
8.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Behavior Genetics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Digital Academic REpository of VU University Amsterdam (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) (submittedVersion)
  • Pure Amsterdam UMC (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH58799‐03, R01MH058799)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
Keywords
aggression, heritability, genetic dominance, shared environment, nonshared environment, individual differences, child development, sex differences, informant bias, parent and teacher ratings, twins, Child Behavior Checklist, Teacher Report Form
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Aggression, Aging, Animal Welfare, Mental Disorders, Child, Child, Preschool, Fathers, Female, Humans, Male, Mothers, Netherlands, Sex Characteristics, Cohort Studies, Observer Variation

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