Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-995ml Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-26T19:36:42.708Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

20 - Genetic Influences on Risk and Protection: Implications for Understanding Resilience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Michael Rutter
Affiliation:
Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK
Suniya S. Luthar
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
Get access

Summary

CONCEPT OF RESILIENCE

Resilience has been conceptualized in several somewhat different ways (see Luthar, Cicchetti, & Becker, 2000; Masten, 2001; Rutter, 1999, 2000a) but, in essence, the starting point is a recognition that for all kinds of adverse experiences there is immense variation in how people respond. Some individuals appear to succumb to the most minor stresses, whereas others seem to cope successfully with the most terrible experiences. The latter phenomenon is what is generally viewed as resilience.

Particularly in recent years, there has been a growing acceptance of the need to take seriously the various methodological hazards that could create false impressions of resilience. The phenomenon is of little interest, and has no policy or practice implications, if the variation reflects no more than the fact that the adverse sequelae had not been covered by the measures used in a particular study, or that the supposed vulnerability factors did not truly mediate risk, or that the heterogeneity in outcome merely reflected variations in the severity of the stress experienced, or that the impression of resilience reflected only an artifact stemming from scaling considerations. In that connection, it has proved crucial to specify the environmental sequelae precisely. Thus, Jaffee et al. (in press) found that children suffered from fathers' involvement if the father was antisocial but benefited if he was not.

Type
Chapter
Information
Resilience and Vulnerability
Adaptation in the Context of Childhood Adversities
, pp. 489 - 509
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altshuler, L. L., Cohen, L., Szuba, M. P., Burt, V. K., Gitlin, M., & Mintz, J. (1996). Pharmacologic management of psychiatric illness during pregnancy: Dilemmas and guidelines. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 592–606Google ScholarPubMed
Anisman, H., Zaharia, M. D., Meaney, M. J., & Merali, Z. (1998). Do early-life events permanently alter behavioural and hormonal responses to stress?International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 16, 149–164CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bohman, M. (1996). Predisposition to criminality: Swedish adoption studies in retrospect. In G. R. Bock & J. A. Goode (Eds.), Genetics of criminal and antisocial behaviour. Ciba Foundation Symposium 194 (pp. 99–114). Chichester, U.K.: Wiley
Boomsma, D. I., Geus, E. J. C., Baal, G. C. M., & Koopmans, J. R. (1999). A religious upbringing reduces the influence of genetic factors on disinhibition: Evidence for interaction between genotype and environment on personality. Twin Research, 2, 115–125CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cadoret, R. J., Cain, C. A., & Crowe, R. R. (1983). Evidence for gene–environment interaction in the development of adolescent antisocial behavior. Behavior Genetics, 13, 301–310CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cadoret, R. J., Winokur, G., Langbehn, D., Troughton, E., Yates, W. R., & Stewart, M. A. (1996). Depression spectrum disease, I: The role of gene–environment interaction. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 892–899Google ScholarPubMed
Cadoret, R. J., Yates, W. R., Troughton, E., Woodworth, G., & Stewart, M. A. S. (1995). Genetic–environmental interaction in the genesis of aggressivity and conduct disorders. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 916–924CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Caspi, A., McClay, J., Moffitt, T. E., Mill, J., Martin, J., Craig, I. W., Taylor, A., & Poulton, R. (2002). Role of genotype in the cycle of violence in maltreated children. Science, 297, 851–854CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crowe, R. R. (1974). An adoption study of antisocial personality. Archives of General Psychiatry, 31, 785–791CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Denenberg, V. H., & Rosenberg, K. M. (1967). Nongenetic transmission of information. Nature, 216, 549–550CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dickens, W. T., & Flynn, J. R. (2001). Heritability estimates vs. large environmental effects: The IQ paradox resolved. Psychological Review, 108, 346–369CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Earls, F. (1987). Sex differences in psychiatric disorders: Origins and developmental influences. Psychiatric Developments, 1, 1–23Google Scholar
Eaves, L., Silberg, J., & Erkanli, A. (2002). Interaction of genes and life events in the development of depression: A Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach. Manuscript submitted for publication
Evans, W. E., & Relling, M. V. (1999). Pharmacogenomics: Translating functional genomics into rational therapeutics. Science, 286, 487–491CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flint, J. (1997). Freeze!Nature Genetics, 17, 250–251CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flint, J., Corley, R., DeFries, J. C., Fulker, D. W., Gray, J. A., Miller, S., & Collins, A. C. (1995). A simple genetic basis for a complex psychological trait in laboratory mice. Science, 269, 1432–1435CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Francis, D., Diorio, J., Liu, D., & Meaney, M. J. (1999). Nongenomic transmission across generations of maternal behavior and stress responses in the rat. Science, 286, 1155–1158CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heath, A. C., Eaves, L. J., & Martin, N. G. (1998). Interaction of marital status and genetic risk for symptoms of depression. Twin Research, 1, 119–122CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heath, A. C., Jardine, R., & Martin, N. G. (1989). Interactive effects of genotype and social environment on alcohol consumption in female twins. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 50, 38–48CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heath, A. C., Madden, P. A. F., Bucholz, K. K., Dinwiddie, S. H., Slutske, W. S., Bierut, L. J., Rohrbaugh, J. W., Statham, D. J., Dunne, M. P., & Martin, N. G. (1999). Genetic differences in alcohol sensitivity and the inheritance of alcoholism risk. Psychological Medicine, 29, 1069–1081CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heath, A. C., Whitfield, J. B., Madden, P. A. F., Bucholz, K. K., Dinwiddie, S. H., Slutske, W. S., Bierut, L. J., Statham, D. B., & Martin, N. G. (2001). Towards a molecular epidemiology of alcohol dependence: Analysing the interplay of genetic and environmental risk factors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 178 (Suppl 40), s33–s40CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hill, A. V. S. (1998). Genetics and genomics of infectious disease susceptibility. British Medical Bulletin, 55, 401–413CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaffee, S. R., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., & Taylor, A. (in press). Life with (and without) father: The benefits of living with two biological parents depends on the father's antisocial behavior. Child DevelopmentGoogle Scholar
Jaffee, S. R., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Dodge, K. A., Rutter, M., Taylor, A., & Tully, L. A. (2002). Nature } nurture: Genetic vulnerabilities interact with child maltreatment to promote behavior problems. Manuscript submitted for publication
Kendler, K. S. (1996). Major depression and generalised anxiety disorder. Same genes, (partly) different environments – revisited. British Journal of Psychiatry, 168 (suppl 30), 68–75Google Scholar
Kendler, K. S., Gardner, C. O., Neale, M. C., & Prescott, C. A. (2001). Genetic risk factors for major depression in men and women: Similar or different heritabilities and same or partly distinct genes?Psychological Medicine, 31, 605–616CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Kessler, R. C., Walters, E. E., MacLean, C., Neale, M. C., Heath, A. C., & Eaves, L. J. (1995). Stressful life events, genetic liability, and onset of an episode of major depression in women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 833–842Google ScholarPubMed
Kendler, K. S., Myers, J. M., & Neale, M. C. (2000). A multidemensional twin study of mental health in women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 506–513CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knight, J. C., Udalova, I., Hill, A. V. S., Greenwood, B. M., Peshu, N., Marsh, K., & Kwiatkowksi, D. (1999). A polymorphism that affects OCT-1 binding to the TNF promoter region is associated with severe malaria. Nature Genetics, 22, 145–150CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koopmans, J. R., Slutske, W. S., Baal, G. C. M., & Boomsma, D. I. (1999). The influence of religion on alcohol use initiation: Evidence for genotype } environment interaction. Behavior Genetics, 29, 445–453CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laub, J. H., Nagin, D. S., & Sampson, R. J. (1998). Trajectories of change in criminal offending: Good marriages and the desistance process. American Sociological Review, 63, 225–238CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Legrand, L. N., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (1999). Searching for interactive effects in the etiology of early-onset substance use. Behavior Genetics, 29, 433–444CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loehlin, J. C. (1992). Genes and environment in personality development. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Luthar, S. S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71, 543–562CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maciejewski, P. K., Prigerson, H. G., & Mazure, C. M. (2000). Sex differences in event-related risk for major depression. Psychological Medicine, 31, 593–604Google Scholar
Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic. American Psychologist, 56, 227–238CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mayeux, R., Ottman, R., Maestre, G., Ngai, C., Tang, M.-X., Ginsberg, H., Chun, M., Tycko, B., & Shelanski, M. (1995). Synergistic effects of traumatic head injury and apolipoprotein- ε 4 in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 45, 555–557CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McClelland, G. H., & Judd, C. M. (1993). Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 376–390CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Rutter, M., & Silva, P. (2001). Sex differences in antisocial behaviour: Conduct disorder, delinquency and violence in the Dunedin Longitudinal Study. London and New York: Cambridge University Press
Petitto, J. M., & Evans, D. L. (1999). Clinical neuroimmunology. In D. S. Charney, E. J. Nestler, & B. S. Bunney (Eds.), Neurobiology of mental illness (pp. 162–169). New York: Oxford University Press
Pickles, A. (1993). Stages, precursors and causes in development. In D. F. Hay & A. Angold (Eds.), Precursors and causes in development and psychopathology (pp. 23–49). Chichester, U.K.: Wiley
Plomin, R. (1994). Genetics and experience: The interplay between nature and nurture. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Plomin, R., & Bergeman, C. S. (1991). The nature of nurture: Genetic influence on “environmental” measures. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 14, 373–427CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plomin, R., DeFries, J. C., & Loehlin, J. C. (1977). Genotype–environment interaction and correlation in the analysis of human behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 309–322CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plomin, R., DeFries, J. C., McClearn, G. E., & McGuffin, P. (2000). Behavioral genetics (4th ed.). New York: Worth
Plomin, R., & Rutter, M. (1998). Child development, molecular genetics and what to do with genes once they are found. Child Development, 69, 1223–1242CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinton, D., Pickles, A., Maughan, B., & Rutter, M. (1993). Partners, peers, and pathways: Assortative pairing and continuities in conduct disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 763–783CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quinton, D., & Rutter, M. (1988). Parenting breakdown: The making and breaking of intergenerational links. Aldershot, U.K.: Avebury
Reiss, D., Hetherington, M., Plomin, R., Howe, G. W., Simmens, S. J., Henderson, S. H., O'Connor, T. J., Bussell, D. A., Anderson, E. R., & Law, T. (1995). Genetic questions for environmental studies: Differential parenting and psychopathology in adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 925–936CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riggins-Caspers, K., Cadoret, R. J., Panak, W., Lempers, J. D., Troughton, E., & Stewart, M. A. (1999). Gene } environment interaction and the moderating effect of adoption agency disclosure on estimating genetic effects. Personality and individual Differences, 27, 357–380CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robins, L. (1966). Deviant children grown up: A sociological and psychiatric study of sociopathic personality. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins
Rotter, J. I., & Diamond, J. M. (1987). What maintains the frequencies of human genetic diseases?Nature, 329, 289–290CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (1970). Sex differences in children's responses to family stress. In E. J. Anthony & C. Koupernik (Eds.), The child in his family (pp. 165–196). New York: Wiley
Rutter, M. (1979). Separation experiences: A new look at an old topic. Journal of Pediatrics, 95, 147–154CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1981). Maternal deprivation reassessed (2nd ed.). Harmondsworth, Middlesex, U.K.: Penguin Books
Rutter, M. (1983). Statistical and personal interactions: Facets and perspectives. In D. M. Magnusson & V. Allen (Eds.), Human development: An interactional perspective (pp. 295–319). New York: Academic Press
Rutter, M. (1989a). Psychiatric disorder in parents as a risk factor for children. In D. Shaffer, I. Philips, & N. B. Enzer (Eds.), Prevention of mental disorders, alcohol and other drug use in children and adolescents. OSAPPrevention Monograph 2 (pp. 157–189). Rockville, MD: Office for Substance Abuse Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Rutter, M. (1989b). Age as an ambiguous variable in developmental research: Some epidemiological considerations from developmental psychopathology. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 12, 1–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1989c). Pathways from childhood to adult life. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 30, 23–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1999). Resilience concepts and findings: Implications for family therapy. Journal of Family Therapy, 21, 119–144CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (2000a). Resilience reconsidered: Conceptual considerations, empirical findings, and policy implications. In J. P. Shonkoff & S. J. Meisels (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (2nd ed., pp. 651–682). New York: Cambridge University Press
Rutter, M. (2000b). Psychosocial influences: Critiques, findings, and research needs. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 375–405CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (2002a). Substance use and abuse: Causal pathways considerations. In M. Rutter & E. Taylor (Eds.), Child and adolescent psychiatry (4th ed., pp. 455–462). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific
Rutter, M. (2002b). Nature, nurture and development: From evangelism through science towards policy and practice. Child Development, 73, 1–21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M., Champion, L., Quinton, D., Maughan, B., & Pickles, A. (1995). Understanding individual differences in environmental risk exposure. In P. Moen, G. H. Elder, Jr., & K. Lüscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human development (pp. 61–93). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
Rutter, M., Dunn, J., Plomin, R., Simonoff, E., Pickles, A., Maughan, B., Ormel, J., Meyer, J., & Eaves, L. (1997a). Integrating nature and nurture: Implications of person–environment correlations and interactions for developmental psychology. Development and Psychopathology, 9, 335–364CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M., Giller, H., & Hagell, A. (1998). Antisocial behavior by young people. New York: Cambridge University Press
Rutter, M., Maughan, B., Meyer, J., Pickles, A., Silberg, J., Simonoff, E., & Taylor, E. (1997b). Heterogeneity of antisocial behavior: Causes, continuities, and consequences. In R. Dienstbier & D. W. Osgood (Eds.), Nebraska symposium on motivation: Vol. 44. Motivation and delinquency (pp. 45–118). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press
Rutter, M., & Pickles, A. (1991). Person–environment interactions: Concepts, mechanisms, and implications for data analysis. In T. D. Wachs & R. Plomin (Eds.), Conceptualization and measurement of organism–environment interaction (pp. 105–141). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
Rutter, M., Pickles, A., Murray, R., & Eaves, L. (2001). Testing hypotheses on specific environmental causal effects on behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 127, 291–324CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., & Quinton, D. (1984). Parental psychiatric disorder: Effects on children. Psychological Medicine, 14, 853–880CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M., & Silberg, J. (2002). Gene–environment interplay in relation to emotional and behavioral disturbance. Annual Review in Psychology, 53, 463–490CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Silberg, J., & Simonoff, E. (1993). Whither behavioral genetics? A developmental psychopathological perspective. In R. Plomin & G. E. McClearn (Eds.), Nature, nurture, and psychology (pp. 433–456). Washington, DC: APA BooksCrossRef
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
Schneider, M. L., & Moore, C. F. (2000). Effect of prenatal stress on development: A nonhuman primate model. In C. Nelson (Ed.), Minnesota symposium on child psychology (pp. 201–243). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Silberg, J., Pickles, A., Rutter, M., Hewitt, J., Simonoff, E., Maes, H., Carbonneau, R., Murrelle, L., Foley, D., & Eaves, L. (1999). The influence of genetic factors and life stress on depression among adolescent girls. Archives of General Psychiatry, 56, 225–232CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Silberg, J., Rutter, M., Neale, M., & Eaves, L. (2001). Genetic moderation of environmental risk for depression and anxiety in adolescent girls. British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 116–121CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Loeber, R., Farrington, D. P., Zhang, Q., Kammen, W., & Maguin, E. (1993). The double edge of protective and risk factors for delinquency: Interrelations and development patterns. Development and Psychopathology, 5, 683–701CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Suomi, S. J. (2000). A biobehavioral perspective on developmental psychopathology: Excessive aggression and serotonergic dysfunction in monkeys. In A. J. Sameroff, M. Lewis, & S. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology (2nd ed., pp. 237–256). New York: PlenumCrossRef
Talmud, P. J., Bujac, S. R., Hall, S., Miller, G. J., & Humphries, S. E. (2000). Substitution of asparagine for aspartic acid at residue 9 (D9N) of lipoprotein lipase markedly augments risk of ischaemic heart disease in male smokers. Atherosclerosis, 149, 75–81CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Teasdale, G. M., Nicoll, J. A. R., Murray, G., & Fiddes, M. (1997). Association of apolipoprotein E polymorphism with outcome after head injury. Lancet, 350, 1069–1071CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wahlsten, D. (1990). Insensitivity of the analysis of variance to heredity–environment interaction. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 13, 109–161CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weatherall, D. J. (1999). From genotype to phenotype: Genetics and medical practice in the new millennium. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London – Series B: Biological Sciences, 354, 1995–2010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weatherall, D. J., & Clegg, J. B. (2001). The thalassaemia syndromes (4th ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific
Weinberg, W. A., Harper, C., & Brumback, R. (2002). Substance use and abuse: Epidemiology, pharmacological considerations, identification, and suggestions towards management. In M. Rutter & E. Taylor (Eds.), Child and adolescent psychiatry (4th ed., pp. 437–454). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific
Wolf, C. R., Smith, G., & Smith, R. L. (2000). Science, medicine, and the future: Pharmacogenetics. British Medical Journal, 320, 987–990CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yaffe, K., Haan, M., Byers, A., Tangen, C., & Kuller, L. (2000). Estrogen use, APOE, and cognitive decline: Evidence of gene–environment interaction. Neurology, 54, 1949–1953CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zaslow, M. J. (1988). Sex differences in children's responses to parental divorce: I. Research methodology and postdivorce family forms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 58, 355–378CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zaslow, M. J. (1989). Sex differences in children's responses to parental divorce: II. Samples, variables, ages and sources. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 59, 118–141CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×