Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Apr;13(2):265-275.
doi: 10.1002/pchj.717. Epub 2023 Dec 27.

Effects of polygenes, parent-child relationship and frustration on junior high school students' aggressive behaviors

Minghao Zhang  1   2 , Zhenli Jiang  3 , Kedi Zhao  4 , Yaohua Zhang  1   2 , Min Xu  1   2 , Xiaohui Xu  1   2
Affiliations

Effects of polygenes, parent-child relationship and frustration on junior high school students' aggressive behaviors

Minghao Zhang et al. Psych J. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

The effects of the interaction between polygenes and the parent-child relationship on junior high school students' aggressive behaviors were explored through the frameworks of gene-endophenotype-behavior and neurophysiological basis. A total of 892 junior high school students participated in this study. They were asked to complete self-reported questionnaires, and saliva samples were collected. Results showed that 5-HTTLPR, MAOA-uVNTR, COMT (rs4680), and Taq1 (rs1800497) of the DRD2 gene affected students' aggressive behaviors in an accumulative way. The polygenic risk score explained 3.4% of boys' aggression and 1.1% of girls' aggression. The interactions between polygenic risk score and parent-child conflict significantly affected the aggressive behaviors of male students, but did not show any significant effect on those of female students. The interactional effect of polygenic risk score and parent-child conflict on junior high school students' aggressive behaviors was completely mediated by frustration. However, the interaction effect of polygenic risk score and parent-child affinity on aggression was not affected by frustration. This study helps us better understand junior high school students' aggressive behaviors and promotes the prevention and correction of adolescents' problem behaviors.

Keywords: aggressive behaviors; frustration; junior high school students; parent–child relationship; polygenic risk score.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Effects of the interaction between candidate polygenic scores (CGPS) and parent–child conflict on boys' aggressive behaviors. Under the condition of high parent–child conflict (when the parent–child conflict value is 3, 4 or 5), the effect of CPGS on the aggressive behavior of male junior high school students increased; under the condition of low parent–child conflict (when the value of parent–child conflict is 1 or 2), the influence of CPGS on the aggressive behavior of male junior high school students is not significant.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Mediation models with moderator. The interaction between parent–child conflict and polygenic cumulative scores is significant only for boys' aggressive the study constructs model (A) for boys and model (B) for girls. The interaction effects of parent–child affinity and polygenic cumulative scores on the aggressive behavior of male and female junior high school students were not significant, so models (C) and (D) were constructed.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Effect of candidate polygenic scores (CPGS) on boys' aggressive behavior, with frustration as a mediator and parent–child conflict as a moderator. Values in parentheses are the 95% confidence intervals of each estimated path coefficient, as in Figure 4.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Effect of candidate polygenic scores (CPGS) on girls' aggressive behavior, with frustration as a mediator and parent–child conflict as a moderator.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Aliev, F. , Latendresse, S. J. , Bacanu, S. A. , Neale, M. C. , & Dick, D. M. (2014). Testing for measured gene‐environment interaction: Problems with the use of cross‐product terms and a regression model reparameterization solution. Behavior Genetics, 44(2), 165–181. 10.1007/s10519-014-9642-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson, C. A. , & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 27–51. 10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135231 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Armstrong‐Carter, E. , Wertz, J. , & Domingue, B. W. (2021). Genetics and child development: Recent advances and their implications for developmental research. Child Development Perspectives, 15(1), 57–64. 10.1111/cdep.12400 - DOI
    1. Åslund, C. , Comasco, E. , Nordquist, N. , Leppert, J. , Oreland, L. , & Nilsson, K. W. (2013). Self‐reported family socioeconomic status, the 5‐HTTLPR genotype, and delinquent behavior in a community‐based adolescent population. Aggressive Behavior, 39(1), 52–63. 10.1002/ab.21451 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beaver, K. M. , Wright, J. P. , De Lisi, M. , Walsh, A. , Vaughn, M. G. , Boisvert, D. , et al. (2007). A gene × gene interaction between DRD2 and DRD4 is associated with conduct disorder and antisocial behavior in males. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 3(1), 30. 10.1186/1744-9081-3-30 - DOI - PMC - PubMed