title: Developmental changes in genetic and environmental influences on rule-breaking and aggression: age and pubertal development.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Antisocial behavior (ASB) can be meaningfully divided into nonaggressive rule-breaking versus aggressive dimensions, which differ in developmental course and etiology. Previous research has found that genetic influences on rule-breaking, but not aggression, increase from late childhood to mid-adolescence. This study tested the extent to which the developmental increase in genetic influence on rule-breaking was associated with pubertal development compared to chronological age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Child and adolescent twins (n = 1,031), ranging in age from 8 to 20 years (M age = 13.5 years), were recruited from public schools as part of the Texas Twin Project. Participants reported on their pubertal development using the Pubertal Development Scale and on their involvement in ASB on items from the Child Behavior Checklist. Measurement invariance of ASB subtypes across age groups (≤12 years vs. >12 years old) was tested using confirmatory factor analyses. Quantitative genetic modeling was used to test whether the genetic and environmental influences on aggression and rule-breaking were moderated by age, pubertal status, or both.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Quantitative genetic modeling indicated that genetic influences specific to rule-breaking increased as a function of pubertal development controlling for age (a gene × puberty interaction), but did not vary as a function of age controlling for pubertal status. There were no developmental differences in the genetic etiology of aggression. Family-level environmental influences common to aggression and rule-breaking decreased with age, further contributing to the differentiation between these subtypes of ASB from childhood to adolescence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future research should discriminate between alternative possible mechanisms underlying gene × puberty interactions on rule-breaking forms of antisocial behavior, including possible effects of pubertal hormones on gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.|Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: K Paige
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Harden
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Megan W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.|Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Briley
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Laura E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Engelhardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kretsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Frank D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Tackett
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.|Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Elliot M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Tucker-Drob
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D006803:Human Development / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D012920:Social Behavior Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Antisocial behavior; adolescence; aggression; behavior genetics; puberty; rule-breaking