Child exposure to serious life events, COMT, and aggression: Testing differential susceptibility theory.
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Both genetic and environmental factors contribute to individual differences in aggression. Catechol-O-methyltransferase Val158Met (COMT), a common, functional polymorphism, has been implicated in aggression and aggression traits, as have childhood experiences of adversity. It is unknown whether these effects are additive or interactional and, in the case of interaction, whether they conform to a diathesis-stress or differential susceptibility model. We examined Gene × Environment interactions between COMT and serious life events on measures of childhood aggression and contrasted these 2 models. The sample was composed of community children (N = 704); 355 were boys, and the mean age was 54.8 months (SD = 3.0). The children were genotyped for COMT rs4680 and assessed for serious life events and by teacher-rated aggression. Regression analysis showed no main effects of COMT and serious life events on aggression. However, a significant interactive effect of childhood serious life events and COMT genotype was observed: Children who had faced many serious life events and were Val homozygotes exhibited more aggression (p = .02) than did their Met-carrying counterparts. Notably, in the absence of serious life events, Val homozygotes displayed significantly lower aggression scores than did Met carriers (p = .03). When tested, this constellation of findings conformed to the differential susceptibility hypothesis: In this case, Val homozygotes are more malleable to the effect of serious life events on aggression and not simply more vulnerable to the negative effect of having experienced many serious life events.
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Among those with stressful life events, rs4680 Val/Val homozygotes were more aggressive than Met-allele carriers, while the reverse was observed among those without stressful life events.
“The same research group also reported that, among those with stressful life events, rs4680 Val/Val homozygotes were more aggressive than Met-allele carriers, while the reverse was observed among those without stressful life events [66].”
From Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [66]
There were no main effects of COMT and serious life events on aggression.
“No main effects of COMT and serious life events on aggression.”
From Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as Hygen [66]
There was a significant interactive effect of childhood serious life events and COMT genotype: children with many serious life events who were Val homozygotes exhibited more aggression (p = 0.02) compared to Met-carriers.
“Significant interactive effect of childhood serious life events and COMT genotype: Children with many serious life events and were Val homozygotes exhibited more aggression (p = 0.02) compared to Met-carriers.”
From Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as Hygen [66]
Without serious life events, Val homozygotes displayed significantly lower aggression scores than Met carriers (p = 0.03).
“Without serious life events, Val homozygotes displayed significantly lower aggression scores than Met carriers (p = 0.03).”
From Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as Hygen [66]
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Genetics of child aggression, a systematic review
Koyama, E., Kant, T., Takata, A., Kennedy, J. L., & Zai, C. C. (2024) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-024-02870-7 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Wang, M., Li, H., Deater-Deckard, K., & Zhang, W. (2018) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01079 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Kant, T., Koyama, E., Zai, C. C., Beitchman, J. H., & Kennedy, J. L. (2022) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms23031782 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
- Authors
- Hygen, B. W., Belsky, J., Stenseng, F., Lydersen, S., Guzey, I. C., & Wichstrøm, L.
- Affiliations
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NO)
- Venue
- Developmental Psychology
- Published
- 2015
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1098-1104
- ISSN
- 0012-1649 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-0599
- OpenAlex
- W2183606549
- Cited by
- 48
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 8
- FWCI
- 2.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- other-oa
- Locations
- Developmental Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Research Council of Norway (191144/V50; 186106/V50; 185760/V50; 190622/V50)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- COMT Val158Met polymorphism, catechol-O-methyltransferase, child aggression, differential susceptibility theory, gene-environment interaction, diathesis-stress model, childhood adversity
- MeSH terms
- Aggression, Catechol O-Methyltransferase, Child Behavior, Child, Preschool, Female, Genotype, Homozygote, Humans, Life Change Events, Male, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Gene-Environment Interaction
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