Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.
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Heterogeneity in antisocial behaviours and comorbidity with depressed mood: a behavioural genetic approach
Article first published online: 7 APR 2008
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01834.x
© 2008 The Authors
Additional Information
How to Cite
Rowe, R., Rijsdijk, F. V., Maughan, B., Eley, T. C., Hosang, G. M. and Eley, T. C. (2008), Heterogeneity in antisocial behaviours and comorbidity with depressed mood: a behavioural genetic approach. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49: 526–534. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01834.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 7 APR 2008
- Article first published online: 7 APR 2008
- Manuscript accepted 25 July 2007
Keywords:
- Conduct disorder;
- aggression;
- delinquency;
- oppositionality;
- depression;
- twin
Background: Antisocial behaviour is often comorbid with depressed mood but is itself a collection of heterogeneous behaviours. Using a genetically informative design, we examine heterogeneity in antisocial behaviour and overlaps between different forms of antisocial behaviour with depressed mood.
Methods: Data were drawn from the G1219 large-scale community sample containing self-report questionnaire data from 941 twin pairs and 328 sibling-pairs aged 12–21 years.
Results: Inter-correlations among oppositionality, physical aggression and delinquency, and between the antisocial subscales and depressed mood, were mediated by genetic and non-shared environmental influences. Genetic factors generally contributed more to the correlations than the non-shared environment.
Conclusions: These results indicate that many genetic and non-shared environmental influences were common to all the traits studied, but there was also evidence for trait-specific effects.