Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Adoption and Antisocial Personality: Genetic and Environmental Factors Associated with Antisocial Outcomes

  • Published:
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present review critically evaluates evidence from adoption studies on the heritability of antisocial personality, interactions between genetic predispositions and the characteristics of adoptive mothers and fathers, and both the methodological and diagnostic shortcomings of existing studies. The article concludes with directions and suggestions for future research and practice.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association

    Google Scholar 

  • Baker, L. A. (1986). Estimating genetic correlations among discontinuous phenotypes: An analysis of criminal convictions and psychiatric-hospital diagnoses in Danish adoptees. Behavior Genetics, 16, 127–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benjamin, L. S. (1993). Interpersonal diagnosis and treatment of personality disorders. New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohman, M. (1983). Alcoholism and crime: Studies of adoptees. Substance and Alcohol Actions/Misuse, 4, 137–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bohman, M., Cloninger, C. R., Sigvardsson, S. von Knorring, A. (1982). Predisposition to petty criminality in Swedish adoptees: I. Genetic and environmental heterogeneity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 1233–1241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brodzinsky, D. M., Lang, R. Smith, D. W. (1995). Parenting adopted children. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Status and social conditions of parenting, (Vol. 3), (pp. 20–22). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronfenbrenner, U. Ceci, S. J. (1994). Nature-Nurture reconceptualized in developmental perspective: A bioecological model. Psychological Review, 101, 568–586.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J. (1978). Psychopathology in adopted-away offspring of biological parents with antisocial behavior. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 176–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J. Cain, C. A. (1980). Sex differences in predictors of antisocial behavior in adoptees. Archives of General Psychiatry, 37, 1171–1175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J. Cain, C. A. (1981). Environmental and genetic factors in predicting adolescent antisocial behavior in adoptees. Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa, 6, 220–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J., Cain, C. A. Crowe, R. R. (1983). Evidence for gene-environment interaction in the development of adolescent antisocial behavior. Behavior Genetics, 13, 301–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J. Stewart, M. A. (1991). An adoption study of attention deficit/hyperactivity/aggression and their relationship to adult antisocial personality. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 32, 73–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J., Troughton, E., Bagford, J. Woodworth, G. (1990). Genetic and environmental factors in adoptee antisocial personality. European Archives of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences, 239, 231–240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J., Troughton, E. O'Gorman, T. W. (1987). Genetic and environmental factors in alcohol abuse and antisocial personality. Journal of Studies in Alcohol, 48, 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R. J., Troughton, E., O'Gorman, T. W. Heywood, E. (1986). An adoption study of genetic and environmental factors in drug abuse. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 1131–1136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadoret, R., Troughton, E. Woodworth, G. (1994). Evidence of heterogeneity of genetic effect in Iowa adoption studies. In T. F. Babor, V. Hesselbrock, R. E. Meyer W. Shoemaker (Eds.), Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: Vol. 708. Types of alcoholics: Evidence from clinical, experimental, and genetic research (pp. 59–71). New York: The New York Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L. A., Watson, D. Reynolds, S. (1995). Diagnosis and classification of psychopathology: Challenges to the current system and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology, 46, 121–153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cloninger, C. R., Sigvardsson, S., Bohman, M. von Knorring, A. (1982). Predisposition to petty criminality in Swedish adoptees: Cross-fostering analysis of geneenvironment interaction. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 1242–1247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowe, R. R. (1972). The adopted offspring of women criminal offenders: A study of their arrest records. Archives of General Psychiatry, 27, 600–603.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowe, R. (1974). An adoption study of antisocial personality. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 785–791.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinwiddie, S. H. Reich, T. (1993). Attribution of antisocial symptoms in coexistent antisocial personality disorder and substance abuse. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 34, 235–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duyme, M. (1990). Antisocial behaviour and postnatal environment: A French adoption study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 31, 699–710.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finley, G. E. (in press, a). Children of adoptive families. In W. K. Silverman & T. H. Ollendick (Eds.), Developmental issues in the clinical treatment of children and adolescents. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

  • Finley, G. E. (in press, b). On individual difference, choice, selection, and complexity in adoption research. Adoption Quarterly.

  • Goldsmith, H. H., Gottesman, I. I. Lemery, K. S. (1997). Epigenetic approaches to developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 365–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gottesman, I. I. Goldsmith, H. H. (1994). Developmental psychopathology of antisocial behavior: Inserting genes into its ontogenesis and epigenesis. In C. A. Nelson (Ed.), Threats to optimal development: Integrating biological, psychological, and social risk factors, Vol. 27 (pp. 69–105). The Minnesota symposium on child psychology. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe, D. (1997). Parent-reported problems in 211 adopted children: Some risk and protective factors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 401–411.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchings, B. Mednick, S. A. (1974). Registered criminality in the adoptive and biological parents of registered male adoptees. In S. A. Mednick, F. Schulsinger, B. Bell, P. H. Venables Christiansen (Series Eds.) & S. A. Mednick, F. Schulsinger, J. Higgins B. Bell (Vol. Eds.), North-Holland Research Series on Early Detection and Prevention of Behaviour Disorders: Vol. 1. Genetics, environment psychopathology (pp. 215–227). Amsterdam,: North-Holland Publishing Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loehlin, J. C., Willerman, L. Horn, J. M. (1988). Human behavior genetics. Annual Review of Psychology, 39, 101–133.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGuffin, P. Thapar, A. (1992). The genetics of personality disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 160, 12–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mednick, S. A., Gabrielli, W. F. Hutchings, B. (1984). Genetic influences in criminal convictions: Evidence from an adoption study. Science, 224, 891–894.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millon, T. (1981). Disorders of personality: DSM-III: Axis II. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, G. R. Yoerger, K. (1993). Developmental models for delinquent behavior. In S. Hodgins (Ed.), Mental Disorder and Crime (pp. 140–172). London: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. (1997). Nature-nurture integration: The example of antisocial personality. American Psychologist, 52, 390–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutter, M. Maughan, B. (1997). Psychosocial adversities in child and adult psychopathology. Journal of Personality Disorders, 11, 4–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schulsinger, F. (1972). Psychopathy: Heredity and environment. International Journal of Mental Health, 1, 190–206.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willerman, L., Loehlin, J. C. Horn, J. M. (1992). An adoption and cross-fostering study of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) psychopathic deviant scale. Behavior Genetics, 22, 515–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willerman, L. Cohen, D. B. (1990). Psychopathology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Florida International University, USA

    Wendy E. Roth

  2. Department of Psychology, Florida International University, USA

    Gordon E. Finley (Professor)

Authors
  1. Wendy E. Roth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gordon E. Finley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Roth, W.E., Finley, G.E. Adoption and Antisocial Personality: Genetic and Environmental Factors Associated with Antisocial Outcomes . Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 15, 133–149 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022296026736

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022296026736

Keywords

Search

Navigation