Chunk #74 — III. Specific Genes for Aggressive Behavior: Findings from Molecular Genetic Studies — A. G × E interaction involving specific genes for aggressive behavior
few replications of this important finding (Foley et al., 2004; Kim-Cohen et al., 2006; Nilsson et al., 2006). For example, Kim-Cohen et al. (2006) found that the MAO-A polymorphism moderated the development of psychopathology after experiencing physical abuse in a sample of 975 seven-year-old boys. This finding was extended to the maltreatment exposure closer in time as the subjects were 7-years-old compared with previous work by Caspi et al., (2002) in which the subjects were 26-years-old, and therefore the possibility of a spurious finding by accounting for passive and evocative G × E correlation could be ruled out. Passive G × E correlation, as discussed earlier, refers to the association between the genotype a child inherits from his/her parents and the environment in which the child is raised, and evocative G × E correlation occurs when an individual's (heritable) behavior evokes an environmental response. Further, the authors also conducted a meta-analysis including the following five studies: Caspi et al., (2002), Foley et al. (2004), Haberstick et al. (2005), Kim-Cohen et al. (2006), and Nilsson et al. (2006). The association between maltreatment and mental health problems was significantly stronger in the group of males with a genotype conferring low versus high
