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Multivariate Behavior Genetic Analyses of Aggressive Behavior Subtypes

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Abstract

This study examined the genetic and environmental architecture underlying aggressive behavior measured by the Life History of Aggression Questionnaire (LHA; Coccaro et al. 1997a). Following preliminary phenotypic factor analysis procedures, multivariate behavioral genetics models were fit to responses from 2,925 adult twins from the PennTwins cohort on five LHA items assessing lifetime frequency of temper tantrums, indirect aggression, verbal aggression, fighting, and physical assault. The best-fitting model was a 2-factor common pathway model, indicating that these five aggressive behaviors are underpinned by two distinct etiological factors with different genetic and nonshared environmental influences. Although there was evidence of significant sex differences, the structure of the two factors appeared to be quite similar in males and females, where General Aggression and Physical Aggression factors emerged. Heritability of these factors ranged from .37 to .57, and nonshared environmental effects ranged from .43 to .63. The results of this study highlight the heterogeneous nature of the aggression construct and the need to consider differences in genetic and environmental influences on individual aggressive behaviors in a multivariate context.

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Notes

  1. Within the larger body of the aggression literature, indirect aggression usually refers to a subtype of aggression which includes behaviors of social manipulation, such as spreading malicious lies about someone, or excluding someone from a group. However, the indirect aggression item of the LHA asks whether the respondent has “deliberately struck or broken objects…in anger” (see Table 1).

  2. We also tested 1- and 2-factor independent pathway (IP) models, which are unconstrained versions of the CP models. The CP models did not show a significant reduction in fit compared to the IP models, so only results from the CP models are presented here.

  3. Allowing correlations between the factors in a full 2-factor CP model results in model nonidentification. Thus, correlations between the common A, C, and E factors are only added to factor models in which the factor structure has been simplified.

  4. Though the items temper tantrums and indirect aggression index aggression that is carried out physically (i.e., slamming doors, throwing, striking, or breaking objects, see Table I), the ad hoc factor name “Nonphysical Aggression” is used to reflect the non-person directed nature of the physicality.

  5. Additional analyses (not shown) tested whether the observed sex differences were due solely to differences in variances across sex. Even while allowing for scalar differences, the differences between males and females in the CP 2-factor models were still statistically significant. However, given the significant variance differences across sex, exploration of sex differences was done via constraints on the standardized parameters (results available upon request).

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Grant R01 MH063262 to Emil F. Coccaro and an NIMH Mentored Scientist Career Development Award K01 MH068484 to Kristen C. Jacobson. We wish to thank Crystal Cole, Jing (Sam) Pan, Bing Chen, and the rest of the Clinical Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology Research Unit at the University of Chicago for their assistance in data collection and scoring. We are also grateful to the twins in the PennTwins Cohort for participating in this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, CNPRU, Chicago, IL, USA

    Michelle T. Yeh, Emil F. Coccaro & Kristen C. Jacobson

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, L-466D, University of Chicago, CNPRU, 5841. S Maryland Ave., Chicago, IL, 60613, USA

    Kristen C. Jacobson

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  1. Michelle T. Yeh
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  2. Emil F. Coccaro
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  3. Kristen C. Jacobson
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Correspondence to Kristen C. Jacobson.

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Yeh, M.T., Coccaro, E.F. & Jacobson, K.C. Multivariate Behavior Genetic Analyses of Aggressive Behavior Subtypes. Behav Genet 40, 603–617 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-010-9363-z

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