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Biomedical subjects

C R Cloninger

Publications and source records attributed to C R Cloninger.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Predisposition to petty criminality in Swedish adoptees. I. Genetic and environmental heterogeneity.

The inheritance of criminality was studied in 862 Swedish men and adopted by nonrelatives at an early age. If type of offense and association with alcohol abuse were neglected, criminality was heterogeneous and appeared to be largely nonfamilial. Nevertheless, different genetic and environmental antecedents influenced the development of criminality, depending on whether or not there was associated alcohol abuse. Alcoholic criminals often committed repetitive violent offenses, whereas nonalcoholic criminals were characterized by commission of a small number of petty property offenses. These nonalcoholic petty criminals had an excess of biologic parents with histories of petty crime but not alcohol abuse. In contrast, the risk of criminality in alcohol abusers was correlated with the severity of their own alcohol abuse, but not with criminality in the biologic or adoptive parents. Unstable preadoptive placement was associated with increased risk for petty criminality, whereas low social status was associated with alcohol-related criminality. We discuss the significance of these results in relation to the classification of criminals and current concepts about antisocial personality.

Adoption↗
PubMed1982

Predisposition to petty criminality in Swedish adoptees. II. Cross-fostering analysis of gene-environment interaction.

The interaction of congenital and postnatal antecedents of criminality was studied in 862 Swedish men adopted at an early age by nonrelatives. Most explained variability was due to differences between the genetic predispositions of the adoptees, but substantial contributions were also made by postnatal environment, either alone or in combination with specific genetic subtypes. There was no overlap between the congenital antecedents of alcoholism and nonalcoholic criminality, but some postnatal variables were common to criminality and one type of alcoholism that is limited to expression in men, according to earlier studies. Low social status alone was not sufficient to lead to criminality, but did increase risk in combination with specific types of genetic predisposition. Unstable preadoptive placements contributed to the risks of both petty criminality and male-limited alcoholism, but not to other types of alcohol abuse. We discuss these results in terms of their clinical and social implications.

Adoption↗
PubMed1982

Predisposition to petty criminality in Swedish adoptees. III. Sex differences and validation of the male typology.

Sex differences in the inheritance of criminality were studied in 913 women and 862 men from the Stockholm Adoption Study. Our multivariate classification of genetic heterogeneity was validated in the female sample by confirmation of predictions derived from the men. The congenital antecedents of criminality were the same regardless of sex, but the congenital predisposition to criminality had to be more severe for a woman to be affected. Furthermore, the postnatal antecedents of criminality that were studied were qualitatively different in the two sexes. Prolonged institutional care and urban rearing increased the risk of criminality in women but not in men. In contrast, multiple temporary placements and low social status of the adoptive home increased the risk ot criminality in men but not women. The antecedents of petty criminality and alcohol abuse were distinct in both sexes. Cross-fostering analysis indicated that postnatal factors were more important for criminality than for alcoholism in women. We discuss the overall significance of this series of reports and make suggestions for future research.

Adoption↗
PubMed1982

Alcoholism and female criminality.

Among 66 female felons unselected for psychiatric referral, 31 (47%) were diagnosed alcoholic. This rate is similar to that found in male criminals, whereas in most groups men alcoholics far outnumber women alcoholics. Alcoholism was associated with antisocial personality and homosexuality in this sample, but not with affective disorder. On follow-up 6 years later, 52% of the alcoholic women were in remission. Alcohol abuse was associated with medical problems, with the alcoholic subjects accounting for most deaths, serious medical illness, and psychiatric hospitalization. Criminal recidivism was not significantly related to alcoholism. The remitted alcoholics did not turn to drugs, and, with one exception, remitted drug-dependent women did not turn to alcohol.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1981

Inheritance of alcohol abuse. Cross-fostering analysis of adopted men.

The inheritance of alcoholism was studied in 862 Swedish men adopted by nonrelatives at an early age. Both the congenital and postnatal backgrounds of the adoptees modify their risk for alcohol abuse. We distinguish two forms of alcoholism that have distinct genetic and environmental causes and differ in their association with criminality, severity of alcohol abuse, and the frequency of expression in biological mothers. Postnatal milieu determines the frequency and severity of expression of the common type of susceptibility in both men and women. In contrast, the less common type is highly heritable in men but is seldom expressed in mothers of affected men.

Adoption↗
PubMed1981

Maternal inheritance of alcohol abuse. Cross-fostering analysis of adopted women.

The inheritance of alcohol abuse was studied in 913 Swedish women adopted by nonrelatives at an early age. There was a threefold excess of alcohol abusers among the adopted daughters of alcoholic biological mothers compared with other daughters. In addition, there was an excess of alcohol abuse among the daughters of biological fathers with alcohol abuse that was mild and not associated with criminality. However, fathers with extensive treatment for both alcoholism and criminality had no excess of alcoholic daughters. This confirms the heterogeneity among alcoholics noted in earlier work with adopted sons, which found that the latter type of criminal alcoholics also had no excess of alcoholic mothers. Imitation of alcohol abuse by adoptive parents did not increase later alcohol abuse by adopted women. The importance of nonfamilial environments and maternal effects is demonstrated for alcohol abuse in women.

Adoption↗
PubMed1980

Analysis of behavioral traits in the presence of cultural transmission and assortative mating: Applications to IQ and SES.

General linear models of familial resemblance are described which allow for polygenic inheritance, cultural transmission from parent to offspring, phenotypic assortative mating, common environment, and maternal and parental effects. These models use observed phenotypic correlations between multiple classes of relatives and/or correlations between individuals reared in separated and extended family structures to yield maximum likelihood parameter estimates. The models are first applied to American kinship data for IQ, with the variance of IQ partitioned as 30% additive genetic, 29% due to cultural inheritance, 9% due to gene--culture covariance, and 32% due to nontransmissible environment. Under the assumption that the correlations between (nontransmissible) environments of DZ and MZ twins are the same, an approximate treatment of dominance yields an estimate of 23% dominance variation.

Culture↗
PubMed1980

General causal models for sex differences in the familial transmission of multifactorial traits: an application to human spatial visualizing ability.

A general multifactorial model is given for the inheritance of traits that exhibit a sexual dimorphism. The model allows for polygenic inheritance, cultural transmission, phenotypic assortative mating, and a common environment of rearing. Several cultural mechanisms are described for which transmission from parent to offspring is sex-dependent and for which many different patterns of sex-specific correlations can result. A special case of the general model is described in which phenotypic differences between males and females are due only to differences in nontransmissible environmental factors and/or genetic factors that do not contribute to variability within a sex. Application of these models to human spatial visualizing ability, using data reported by others, gives an estimate of 45 per cent for the proportion of the variance that is accounted for by transmissible factors. Neither an X-linked hypothesis nor a sex-specific cultural mechanism is required to explain the transmission of spatial ability.

Female↗
PubMed1979

The use of multiple thresholds and segregation analysis in analyzing the phenotypic heterogeneity of multifactorial traits.

(1) Three models based on multifactorial inheritance are introduced to account for phenotypic heterogeneities. These models are used to determine whether subforms of a triat are: (a) different degrees of the same process, (b) non-familial environmental variants of the same process, and (c) independently transmitted processes. (2) The parameters of each model consist of two population prevalences and either one, two, or three correlation coefficients which reflect the three hypotheses given above. The models are formulated so that a likelihood ratio test may be performed to discriminate between them. (3) The following types of analyses are described: (a) analysis of prevalence data with separate population prevalence estimates, (b) analysis of prevalence data with the proband a parent with specified spouse, (c) analysis of prevalence data with the proband an offspring with specified parents, and (d) the full segregation distribution of families using Complex Segregation Analysis. (4) When compared with the Analysis of Prevalences, Complex Segregation Analysis has the following advantages: (a) the number of degrees of freedom for parameter estimates is greater and separate estimates of the population prevalences are not necessary, (b) standard errors of the parameters are smaller, and (c) the power to discriminate models is increased. (5) Phenotypic heterogeneities such as age of onset, severity, and sex effect can be more completely understood by the methods of analyses described above. The nosology of familial disorders can also be clarified, and environments relevant to the transmission of the trait can be detected. This approach is particularly suitable for the analysis for behavioural traits since it does not require the assumption that environmental effects common to relatives be ignored. (6) Finally, our experience indicates that incorporating both prevalence and pedigree data into a single analysis decreases the time required to perform the analysis.

Environment↗
PubMed1979

Multifactorial inheritance with cultural transmission and assortative mating. II. a general model of combined polygenic and cultural inheritance.

A general linear model of combined polygenic-cultural inheritance is described. The model allows for phenotypic assortative mating, common environment, maternal and paternal effects, and genic-cultural correlation. General formulae for phenotypic correlation between family members in extended pedigrees are given for both primary and secondary assortative mating. A FORTRAN program BETA, available upon request, is used to provide maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters from reported correlations. American data about IQ and Burks' culture index are analyzed. Both cultural and genetic components of phenotypic variance are observed to make significant and substantial contributions to familial resemblance in IQ. The correlation between the environments of DZ twins is found to equal that of singleton sibs, not that of MZ twins. Burks' culture index is found to be an imperfect measure of midparent IQ rather than an index of home environment as previously assumed. Conditions under which the parameters of the model may be uniquely and precisely estimated are discussed. Interpretation of variance components in the presence of assortative mating and genic-cultural covariance is reviewed. A conservative, but robust, approach to the use of environmental indices is described.

Computers↗
PubMed1979

Multifactorial inheritance with cultural transmission and assortative mating. III. Family structure and the analysis of separation experiments.

Demographic data about family composition or structure in the United States is reviewed. About 25% of white children and a majority of black children are reared in either broken or extended families, and this must be taken into consideration for valid studies of cultural inheritance. Atypical family structures are described including those in which parents include: biological parents, stepparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, sibs, foster parents, and their spouses. General formulae for a wide variety of kinship correlations are derived using path analysis. The multifactorial model presented allows for cultural inheritance, polygenic inheritance, correlated sibling environments, and phenotypic assortative mating (as previously described for intact families) plus extensions necessary for the analysis of separation experiments. These extensions allow for variable family structure and differences in parental influence due to separation, age or stage of development of the child, birth order, or type of relationship. Family structure is observed to have a marked effect on familial resemblance. Computer simulation studies demonstrate marked heterogeneity among phenotypic correlations for kinships of the same degree of genetic relationship arising in different family structures. Analyses of multiple types of sibs and other relatives in variable family structures offer great promise for the study of cultural inheritance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Female criminality and the prediction of recidivism. A prospective six-year follow-up.

A prospective, six-year follow-up investigation of 66 convicted female felons indicated that psychiatric, social, and familial factors defined and measured at the time of the index study affected the rate of criminal recidivism. Wide individual variation in the course of female criminality was observed. Prolonged supervision on parole or probation appeared to have therapeutic benefit. The most powerful predictors of recidivism were the diagnoses of drug dependence and antisocial personality, and a history of homosexuality. Familial criminality and maternal hysteria were also associated with an increased risk of serious and persistent recidivism. Educational, marital, and employment status contributed to a lesser extent, while race and type of index offense were only significant (P less than .05) when minor offenses were considered.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Implications of sex differences in the prevalences of antisocial personality, alcoholism, and criminality for familial transmission.

We describe three multifactorial models of disease transmission in which the prevalences of a disease differ in men and women. These models demonstrate explicitly how such sex differences may be caused by genetic factors, home environment, sociocultural, or other nonfamilial factors. Independent sets of family data about antisocial personality and alcoholism in the United States and criminality in Danish twins are analyzed according to these quantitative models. Relevant clinical and adoption data about these disorders are reviewed. The sex differences observed in the development of antisocial personality and of crime appear to be due to familial factors whereas the differences between male and female alcoholics are due to nonfamilial factors. The models and results are discussed in terms of their general implications for testing hypotheses about gender-related differences.

Adolescent↗