Views by Two: Genetic Perspectives on Adolescent Development
Chair: Danielle Dick, Virginia Commonwealth University

Molecular Genetic Approaches to Understanding Risk and Resiliency in Adolescence

Joan Kaufman
Yale University School of Medicine

Abstract
Views on development have swung from radical environmentalism, to near determinism, with the two camps entrenched at opposite poles. Emerging evidence has clearly highlighted that the critical question is not, “Which matters more, genes or environment?” but rather “How do genetic and environmental factors interact to influence development?” While many promising findings in molecular genetics failed to replicate, studies examining candidate genes together with environmental measures have shown remarkable consistency across investigations. Child abuse is one of the most potent environmental factors associated with elevated rates of multiple psychiatric and substance use disorders. Molecular genetic approaches have proven critical in helping us understand why some abused children develop problems, and others don’t. In the current presentation, studies examining the role of genes and environment in influencing brain development and promoting risk and resiliency will be reviewed. Developmental factors that increase risk for psychopathology in adolescence will also be highlighted, and the value of using integrated multidisciplinary approaches emphasized throughout this presentation. Behavioral and molecular genetic approaches provide complementary information, and the integration of these approaches with neuron-imaging and other research methodologies promises to greatly enhance our understanding of adolescent development and the effects of stress throughout the lifecycle.

Biography
Joan Kaufman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, and Director of the Child and Adolescent Research and Education (C.A.R.E.) Program within the Department. The C.A.R.E. Program is dedicated to work with maltreated children and their families. The research foci of the C.A.R.E. program are broad and span from neurobiology to social policy. Dr. Kaufman currently is involved in research utilizing magnetic resonance and diffusion tensor imaging to examine brain structure and function in maltreated children with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, research examining genetic and environmental factors that contribute to risk and resiliency in maltreated children, a study evaluating a new intervention developed by the state for children removed from their parents’ care due to allegations of abuse and neglect, and other studies examining the impact of early trauma on a broad range of child outcomes. Dr. Kaufman co-directs the Zigler Center’s Child Welfare Unit.

The End of Behavioral Genetics?

Matt McGue
University of Minnesota and Southern Denmark University

Abstract
Twin and adoption research from the latter half of the 20th century proved to be a powerful antidote to the radical environmentalism that dominated within some areas of psychology earlier in that century. But once we have accepted that behavior has a heritable component, is there anything left for behavioral geneticists to say? It will be argued that behavioral genetic research can continue to make fundamental contributions to psychological knowledge primarily in two ways: 1) by facilitating the search for genes affecting individual differences in behavior, and 2) by modeling the role of gene-environment interplay in psychological development. Progress with respect to the first goal has been unexpectedly slow, apparently because any single gene has at most a small marginal effect on behavior. Greater progress is being made with respect to the second goal, but the challenge there is, as Michael Rutter has argued elsewhere, to identify innovative research designs that allow factors that are normally confounded to be “pulled apart”. Illustrations of both approaches from contemporary behavioral genetic research will be provided, with a particular focus on adolescent development.

Biography
Matt McGue received his B.A. degree from the University of California at Berkeley and his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1981. He has been a member of the Department of Psychology and Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Minnesota since 1985. He also holds an appointment in the Department of Epidemiology at Southern Denmark University. His research concerns the interaction of inherited factors and experience in psychological development. He is a past president of the Behavior Genetics Association (2002), president elect of the International Society for Twin Studies, a recipient of the James Shields Award for contributions to twin research (2006), and a Regents Professor at the University of Minnesota. He co-directs the Minnesota Center for Twin and Family Research, and serves as the principal investigator of the Minnesota Twin Family Study, a 20-year prospective study of 1400 pairs of adolescent twins and their parents, and the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study, a 10-year prospective study of 700 adopted adolescents and their parents.. He has also collaborated with colleagues at the Danish Twin Registry to undertake a large-scale 12-year longitu, which has been funded for the past 12 years.