A sizeable literature also indicates that the DRD4 polymorphism interacts with environmental influences. For instance, young children with the long DRD4 allele are more sensitive to both positive and negative aspects of parental and non-parental care (Bakermans-Kranenburg and Van IJzendoorn, 2011; Belsky and Pluess, 2013). These effects extend to prenatal exposure to maternal stress (Zohsel et al., 2014) and persist developmentally into adolescence (Nikitopoulos et al., 2014). These interactions have also been found in adulthood, with male carriers of the long DRD4 allele being more sensitive to the positive effects of long-term romantic relationships on desisting from delinquency (Beaver et al., 2008).
