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Behavioral Genetics and Aggressive Behavior in Childhood

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Handbook of Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Behavioral genetics has contributed to the study of psychopathology in three ways: (1) It has provided a theory of the genetic and environmental origins of individual differences in behavioral pathology, (2) devised methods that can disentangle the influence of nature and nurture, and (3) produced data that converge on the conclusion that hereditary influences are important in psychopathology. The new subdiscipline of developmental behavioral genetics is particularly relevant to the field of developmental psychopathology because its focus is on genetic change as well as continuity during development (Plomin, 1986a). The purpose of this chapter is to introduce developmental behavioral genetics, using aggressive behavior in childhood as an example of this approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA

    Robert Plomin & Katherine Nitz

  2. Department of Family Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721, USA

    David C. Rowe

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  1. Robert Plomin
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  2. Katherine Nitz
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  3. David C. Rowe
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA

    Michael Lewis

  2. Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Suzanne M. Miller

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© 1990 Plenum Press, New York

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Plomin, R., Nitz, K., Rowe, D.C. (1990). Behavioral Genetics and Aggressive Behavior in Childhood. In: Lewis, M., Miller, S.M. (eds) Handbook of Developmental Psychopathology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7142-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7142-1_10

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