Several prospective multigenerational studies have shown that crime runs in the family, while empirical research on the biological causes of crime has also established that low heart rate is... Show moreSeveral prospective multigenerational studies have shown that crime runs in the family, while empirical research on the biological causes of crime has also established that low heart rate is related to antisocial behavior. This study examines whether the intergenerational transmission of crime is moderated or mediated by a low heart rate of the son. Prospectively collected conviction data on 794 men from three consecutive generations of the Dutch Transfive dataset is used. Heart rates were measured around age 18, during the medical examination prior to the mandatory military service in the Dutch army. All analyses were conducted separately for violent and non-violent crime. Both paternal violence and low heart rate levels are associated with increased violent offending. Intergenerational transmission of violence was only found among families in which the son had a low heart rate, although the degree of transmission did not differ significantly from families in which the son had a high heart rate. No support was found for a mediating influence of low heart rates of criminals’ offspring on the intergenerational transmission of crime and violence. The results from this study underline the importance to focus on the interaction between biological risk factors and psychosocial risk factors for criminal behavior Show less
Verhage, M.L.; Schuengel, C.; Fearon, R.M.P.; Madigan, S.; Oosterman, M.; Cassibba, R.; ... ; IJzendoorn, M.H. van 2017
In this reply, we respond to the critique by Barbaro, Boutwell, Barnes, and Shackelford (2017) in regard to our recent meta-analysis of intergenerational transmission of attachment (Verhage et al.,... Show moreIn this reply, we respond to the critique by Barbaro, Boutwell, Barnes, and Shackelford (2017) in regard to our recent meta-analysis of intergenerational transmission of attachment (Verhage et al., 2016). Barbaro et al. (2017) claim that the influence of shared environment on attachment decreases with age, whereas unique environmental and genetic influences increase, which they felt was disregarded in our meta-analysis. Their criticisms, we argue, are based on a misunderstanding of the core tenets of attachment theory. Barbaro et al. (2017) unify parent-offspring attachment, attachment representations, and romantic-pair attachment under the same conceptual and empirical umbrella, even though these constructs serve different behavioral systems. We show that excluding the incompatible twin data on pair bonding from their analysis undercuts their argument. Statements about the role of the shared environment in attachment beyond early childhood are highly uncertain at this point. Importantly, even if the role of the shared environment were to wane with age, its effects may still be causally important in later childhood or adult outcomes, as either an indirect factor or as a factor influencing earlier developmental outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved) Show less
