M. Rutter et al., INTEGRATING NATURE AND NURTURE - IMPLICATIONS OF PERSON-ENVIRONMENT CORRELATIONS AND INTERACTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, Development and psychopathology, 9(2), 1997, pp. 335-364
The developmental interplay between nature and nurture is discussed, w
ith particular reference to implications for research in developmental
psychopathology. The general principles include individual difference
s in reactivity to the environment, two-way interplay between intraind
ividual biology and environmental influences, and the need to consider
broader social contextual features. Individuals actively process thei
r experiences; they also act on their environment to shape and select
their experiences, and individual characteristics change over time. Ke
y findings on genetic effects include their ubiquitous influence, the
multifactorial origin of most psychopathology, the involvement of seve
ral genes in most mental disorders, some genetic effects operate throu
gh dimensional risk features rather than directly on disorder, some ge
netic effects are dependent on gene-environment correlations and inter
actions, and genetic effects increase with age. Key findings on enviro
nmental effects include their ubiquitous influence, the genetic mediat
ion of some supposed environmental effects, the importance of passive
gene-environment correlations, the paucity of evidence regarding envir
onmental effects on lifetime liability to psychopathology, the lack of
understanding of environmental effects on the organism, and the impor
tance of nonshared environmental effects. Research strategies to inves
tigate environmental risk mediation include the range of genetically s
ensitive designs, migration studies, secular trend investigations, stu
dies of nonfamilial environments, and examination of intraindividual c
hange in relation to measured environmental alterations. Proximal proc
esses involved in person-environment interplay are discussed in relati
on to person-environment interactions and evocative and active person-
environment correlations.