It really does take a village: The role of neighbors in the etiology of child antisocial behavior

Although there is growing recognition that disadvantaged contexts attenuate genetic influences on youth antisocial behavior (ASB), it is not yet clear how this dampening occurs. The current study made use of a ‘geographic... [ view full abstract ]

Although there is growing recognition that disadvantaged contexts
attenuate genetic influences on youth antisocial behavior (ASB), it is
not yet clear how this dampening occurs. The current study made use of a
‘geographic contagion’ model to isolate specific contextual elements
contributing to this effect, with a focus on neighbor behavior. Our
sample included 847 families residing in or near modestly-to-severely
disadvantaged neighborhoods who participated in the Michigan State
University Twin Registry. Neighborhood sampling techniques were used to
recruit neighbors residing within 5000 meters of a given family (the
mean number of neighbors assessed per family was 13.09, with a range of 1
to 47).  Analyses revealed clear evidence of GxE by neighbor behavior,
such that sibling-level shared environmental influences on child ASB
increased with increasing neighbor self-reports of their own ASB, while
genetic influences decreased.  Put differently, neighbor ASB appears to
provide such a strong social push towards youth ASB that it develops
even in the absence of genetic risk.  Sensitivity analyses further
indicated that neighbor joblessness (rather than neighbor criminality)
accounted for these findings. Such findings suggest that future GxE
studies should incorporate social contagion theory and its dynamic
social networks.