The present study represents a preliminary step in the investigation of the role of genetics in childhood maltreatment, and the first such analysis known to us of neglect and sexual maltreatment in particular. The results in the literature and the present study suggest several directions for future studies examining the etiology of childhood maltreatment. First, the present study’s findings that small genetically-driven child effects may exist for physical maltreatment and neglect, but not for sexual maltreatment, need to be replicated. Second, the discrepancy between the results of Jaffee et al.’s study (2004), which used parent report, and the results of the present study, which used self report, suggests that a study examining reports of maltreatment from multiple raters and evaluating the degree of rater bias (e.g., Hewitt et al., 1992; Simonoff et al., 1995) would be useful. Third, the specific child traits or behaviors increasing the risk for maltreatment should be identified. Fourth, studies using designs that can distinguish between passive gene-environment correlations and shared environmental influences, such as the children of twins design, would also be helpful. Fifth, studies evaluating gene-environment interaction in maltreatment should be conducted.
