Genetic, shared environmental, and non-shared environmental influences accounted for proportionally the same amount of variance in antisocial behavior for males and females in both childhood and adulthood. Two other studies examined quantitative sex differences in the genetic and environmental influences on antisocial behavior from childhood to adulthood – one reached a similar conclusion about quantitative sex differences whereas the other did not. In Hicks et al. (2007), there was no evidence of a quantitative sex difference either in childhood or adulthood. In Jacobson et al. (2002), the heritability was greater for females and shared environmental influences were greater for males in childhood, and no sex differences were apparent in adolescence. In adulthood, though shared environmental influences were small, these influences were greater for males than females. Notably, Jacobson et al. distinguished between child and adolescent antisocial behavior, whereas Hicks et al. (and the present study) did not, which could account for the differences between studies.
