Genetics and Behavioral Medicine

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Abstract
Genetics has substantial relevance to behavioral medicine. A rapidly growing body of evidence indicates the influence of genetics on health and disease and on the behavioral factors related to them. The model of quantitative genetics provides a general interpretational scheme for this burgeoning field. The model focuses on variability, and a major research objective is the decomposition of observed individual differences into portions attributable to various types of genetic and environmental sources of variability. This approach emphasizes the coaction of genes and environments and stands in sharp contrast to the archaic view that places nature and nurture in opposition. Some relevant examples are given in this first article to illustrate the general analytic process. A detailed application to cardiovascular health and disease is provided in the second article, and some policy implications are briefly considered in the third article.