Framed differently, findings also contribute to our understanding of just what OXTR variation itself may impact and the conditions under which this impact might change. The impact of OXTR variability on the affiliations with risky peers seems to be facilitated by the PROSPER interventions. Across the control and intervention conditions, youth with more OXTR ‘risk” alleles are equally prone to affiliate with high-risk peers. These youth follow the general preference for friends who engage in problem behaviors (see Osgood, Feinberg, and Ragan, 2015). In contrast, messages delivered by the intervention appear to reduce the general preference for risky friends, but only among low OXTR risk youth. It may be that having fewer “risky” OXTR alleles conveys a weaker affiliative drive. Alternatively, these less “risky” alleles might convey a greater sensitivity to the larger school context.
