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The effect of neighborhood disadvantage, social ties, and genetic variation on the antisocial behavior of African American women: A multilevel analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2014

Man-Kit Lei ,
Ronald L. Simons ,
Mary Bond Edmond ,
Leslie Gordon Simons  and
Carolyn E. Cutrona
Man-Kit Lei*
Affiliation:
University of Georgia
Ronald L. Simons
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Mary Bond Edmond
Affiliation:
Piedmont College
Leslie Gordon Simons
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Carolyn E. Cutrona
Affiliation:
Iowa State University
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Man-Kit Lei, Center for Family Research, University of Georgia, 1095 College Station Road, Athens, GA 30602; E-mail: karlo@uga.edu.
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Abstract

Social disorganization theory posits that individuals who live in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior than are those who live in advantaged neighborhoods and that neighborhood disadvantage asserts this effect through its disruptive impact on social ties. Past research on this framework has been limited in two respects. First, most studies have concentrated on adolescent males. In contrast, the present study focused on a sample of adult African American females. Second, past research has largely ignored individual-level factors that might explain why people who grow up in disadvantaged neighborhoods often do not engage in antisocial behavior. We investigated the extent to which genetic variation contributes to heterogeneity of response to neighborhood conditions. We found that the impact of neighborhood disadvantage on antisocial behavior was mediated by neighborhood social ties. Further, the analysis indicated that the effects of neighborhood disadvantage and social ties on antisocial behavior were moderated by genetic polymorphisms. Examination of these moderating effects provided support for the differential susceptibility model of Gene × Environment. The effect of Gene × Neighborhood Disadvantage on antisocial behavior was mediated by the effect of Gene × Neighborhood Social Ties, providing support for an expanded view of social disorganization theory.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 26 , Issue 4pt1 , November 2014 , pp. 1113 - 1128
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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