Second, we examined men and women together, but the work of Jackson and colleagues (2010) and others have suggested that the diathesis-stress model for obesity may be more relevant among women (who may internalize stress) than among men (who may cope with relatively stressful events through externalizing behaviors). If lack of a college degree is deemed relatively stressful, we might test this hypothesis by identifying diathesis-stress loci linked to BMI among women with and without degrees, and then look for links between these same loci and substance use or delinquent behavior among men with and without degrees (Simons et al. 2011). This would help to characterize individual differences that are linked to the likelihood that an individual may respond to their environment. More importantly, though, it structures social environment and social identities as precursors to genetic associations rather than simply byproducts of genetic makeup.
