Family Functioning and Childhood Antisocial Behavior: Yet Another Reinterpretation

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Proposed in the past was a reconceptualization of the relationship between family functioning and childhood antisocial behavior that included bidirectional effects, which takes into account a child's effect on the family environment. In this article, another possible model that could explain this relationship is proposed That is, there could be a genetic predisposition passed from parent to child, and this predisposition could lead to dysfunctional elements in a child's family environment. In this model, some aspects of the family environment could be related to childhood antisocial behavior as the result of a common cause: the genetic predisposition and resulting behavior patterns. Several lines of research that are consistent with this model are reviewed, and the importance of considering such a model in designing and interpreting studies in this area is discussed.