Background

Although adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have negative effects on subsequent wellbeing, questions remain regarding how and why they do so. Sex, environmental effects, and genetic influences may play a role in both one’s exposure to ACEs as well as one’s reactions to ACEs.

Objective

To understand the combined genetic and environmental influences on males’ and females’ exposure and reactions to ACEs, and to determine whether sex differences in offending and depressive symptoms were partially impacted by genetic influences.

Methods

We employed a sample of monozygotic twins (n = 217 pairs), same-sex dizygotic twins (n = 185 pairs), and same-sex full siblings (n = 446 pairs) from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 848 pairs) and estimated a series of multivariable biometric models. Participants were aged between 12 and 21 during Wave I, between 13 and 22 at Wave II, between 18 and 26 at Wave III, and 24 and 32 at Wave IV.

Results

First, there appears to be a stronger genetic influence on ACEs exposure among males than females. Second, genetic influences were stronger on offending among males and depression among females. Third, ACEs moderate the genetic influences on offending and depressive symptomology among males and females: among males, genetic influences on offending decreased as exposure to ACEs increased, while among females, genetic influences on depressive symptoms decreased as exposure to ACEs increased.

Conclusions

Systematic sex differences in the exposure and reactions to ACEs are at least partially due to genetic differences. Exposure to ACEs is partially influenced by genetics among males, but not females, and the more male and females’ experience ACEs, the less influence genes have on their offending and depressive symptomology, respectively.

中文翻译：

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不良童年经历对成年早期内化和外化问题的影响：基因×环境×性相互作用的证据

背景

尽管不良童年经历 (ACE) 会对随后的幸福感产生负面影响，但关于它们如何以及为什么这样做的问题仍然存在。性别、环境影响和遗传影响可能在一个人接触 ACE 以及一个人对 ACE 的反应中发挥作用。

客观的

了解遗传和环境对男性和女性对 ACE 的暴露和反应的综合影响，并确定犯罪和抑郁症状的性别差异是否部分受到遗传影响的影响。

方法

我们采用了 来自全国青少年到成人健康纵向 研究 （N  = 848 对）并估计了一系列多变量生物特征模型。参与者的年龄在第一波期间为 12 至 21 岁，第二波为 13 至 22 岁，第三波为 18 至 26 岁，第四波为 24 至 32 岁。

结果

首先，男性对 ACEs 暴露的遗传影响似乎比女性强。其次，遗传对男性犯罪和女性抑郁的影响更大。第三，ACEs减轻了男性和女性对犯罪和抑郁症状的遗传影响：在男性中，随着ACEs暴露的增加，遗传对犯罪的影响减少，而在女性中，随着ACEs暴露的增加，遗传对抑郁症状的影响减少。

结论

ACEs 暴露和反应的系统性性别差异至少部分是由于遗传差异。暴露于 ACE 部分受男性遗传的影响，但不受女性遗传的影响，男性和女性经历 ACE 的次数越多，基因对他们的冒犯和抑郁症状的影响就越小。