Genetic risk factors correlate with county-level violent crime rates and collective disadvantage

• Research has shown some genetic polymorphisms correlate with antisocial behavior
• The current study analyzed three dopamine genes: DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4
• Respondents with more “risk” alleles lived in areas with more disadvantage
• Respondents with more “risk” alleles lived in areas with higher violent crime rates

PurposeSocial scientists have a rich tradition of uncovering the neighborhood, structural, and ecological correlates of human behavior. Results from this body of evidence have revealed that living in disadvantaged communities portends myriad negative outcomes, including antisocial behaviors. Though it has long been argued that associations between neighborhood factors and individual-level outcomes may, at least partially, reflect genetic selection, a paucity of research has empirically investigated this possibility.MethodsThe current study examined whether known genetic risk factors for antisocial behavior were predictive of exposure to disadvantage and violent crime measured at the county level. Drawing on genotypic data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a dopamine risk scale was created based on respondents’ genotypes for DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4. County-level disadvantage was measured via Census data and violent crime rates were measured via the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports.ResultsFindings revealed that individuals with a greater number of dopamine risk alleles were more likely to live in a disadvantaged county and were more likely to live in a county with higher violent crime rates.