Danielle Boisvert

• Sam Houston State University

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been linked with attachment insecurity and psychopathology. However, some individuals remain securely attached and resilient following ACEs. Researchers have examined polymorphisms in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR), particularly rs53576, as a source of resilience, though examination of the biological mec...

Although there has been research on the correlates of poly-victimization, studies have not fully considered the role of personality as a potential risk factor. The current study sought to address this gap by examining the personality characteristics of low self-control and psychopathy to assess how individuals who experience poly-victimization, def...

The immigration experience in the United States has been linked to a wide range of behavioral and physical outcomes. Studies report that immigrants, relative to native-born citizens, are less likely to develop alcohol use habits despite facing hardships during the acculturation process. Limited research, however, has examined whether and to what ex...

Background: In recent years, the prevalence of suicidal ideation among young adults has been on the rise, with childhood maltreatment thought to partially explain this disparity. Systemic inflammation-a product of over-activation of the body's stress response system-has been hypothesized to play a predictive role in the development of suicidal ide...

It appears that social information processing is negatively affected by inflammation, but extant research is primarily experimental and comes from laboratory-based manipulations of inflammatory states. We aimed to examine interactions between inflammation, stressful life events, and positive memories of childhood relations with parents in relation...

Childhood maltreatment and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are two primary forms of interpersonal victimization that have been associated with a host of deleterious health outcomes. Studies over the past decade have begun to use a range of biologically informed methods to better understand the role that biology plays in the relationship betwee...

Recent work has generalized Steinberg's (2008) dual systems model of adolescent risk taking behavior to the explanation of crime (Burt, Sweeten, & Simons, 2014; Vazsonyi & Ksinan, 2017). However, risky behaviors and crime are not synonymous and the traits associated with criminal behavior may extend beyond impulsivity and sensation seeking. The cur...

The current work assesses overlap between self-control and psychopathy with a focus on the Grasmick et al. (1993) self-control scale (gscs) and the levenson et al. (1995) self-report psychopathy scale (lsrps). using a sample of undergraduates analyses found the association between the elements of self-control and psychopathy factors was stronger th...

The current study provides a test of General Strain Theory by examining the relations between strain, negative emotions, and biological hormones in the prediction of antisocial behavior across gender. Findings from a diverse sample of 512 undergraduate students reveal that strain and the ratio between testosterone to cortisol reactivity are associa...

Examining psychopathic traits at the factor or facet level has revealed that various aspects of psychopathy may be differentially related, even in opposing directions, to important outcomes (e.g., intelligence, emotion regulation). Empirical work on relations between psychopathy and internalizing disorders, such as PTSD and depression, has provided...

During adolescence, many teens begin to experiment with substances and engage in delinquent behavior. The current study seeks to examine whether and to what extent genetic and environmental factors contribute to the association between substance use (i.e., marijuana and alcohol) and different forms of delinquent offending (i.e., violent and nonviol...

A developed line of research has found that psychopathic personality traits and criminal behavior are correlated with one another. While there is little question about the association between psychopathic personality traits and criminal behavior, what remains less clear is whether psychopathic traits exert a direct effect on criminal behavior. An a...

Despite consistent findings associating autonomic activity, such as resting heart rate, with antisocial behavior, the research connecting autonomic variables to related phenotypes, such as psychopathy and sensation seeking, has been mixed. The existing research in this area has been limited by underpowered samples, focused predominantly on incarcer...

With the advent of new and more readily usable gene sequencing techniques, researchers have been able to examine the interactions between genes and the environment (G X E) within a multitude of scientific perspectives. One area that G X E interactions have been implicated in is the development of antisocial behavior (ASB). Antisocial behavior consi...

During adolescence, many teens begin to experiment with substances and engage in delinquent behavior. The current study seeks to examine whether and to what extent genetic and environmental factors contribute to the association between substance use (i.e., marijuana and alcohol) and different forms of delinquent offending (i.e., violent and nonviol...

In the current study, we extend the gene-by-environment interaction (cGxE) literature by examining how a widely studied polymorphism, the MAOA upstream variable number tandem repeat (MAOA-uVNTR) interacts with distal and proximal stressors to explain variation in crime and delinquency. Prior research findings have revealed that MAOA-uVNTR interacts...

Purpose: The current study seeks to examine how two widely studied serotonergic polymorphisms, MAOA-uVNTR and 5-HTTLPR, interact with early and later life stressors to explain between-individual variation in low self-control in a genetically moderated stress sensitization model (G. ×. E. ×. E). Methods: Using a sample of male undergraduate students...

There is consistent evidence to suggest that individuals with low resting heart rate are more likely to engage in a variety of antisocial behaviors. The present study examines whether this finding can be extended to stalking perpetration. Drawing from fearlessness theory and stimulation-seeking theory, as well as conceptual work of Meloy and Fisher...

Research on adolescent risk factors for delinquency has suggested that, due to genetic differences, youth may respond differently to risk factors, with some youth displaying resilience and others a heightened vulnerability. Using a behavioral genetic design and data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study exam...

Drawing on social support theory, this study examines the main and interactive effects of parental perceived stress and social support on externalizing behaviors in military youth. Findings reveal that not only do social support and stress affect the conduct of military children, but social support also moderately buffers the effects of parental st...

Purpose Self-regulation has gained wide-spread attention across a number of social science disciplines in recent years. It is clear that a lack of self-regulation is related to a host of behavioral, social, and criminogenic outcomes. Questions remain, however, regarding between and within sex differences in the change and stability of self-regulati...

Purpose: The current study examines the relationship between low birth weight and adult offending, and whether maternal age at childbirth moderates this relationship. Methods: Using longitudinal data from mothers and offspring from the Providence sample of the Collaborative Perinatal Project, multivariate logistic regression models were used to stu...

Using open-ended survey questions, this study looks to expand on prior race and crime public opinion research by examining Philadelphia area residents' views as to why they believed Blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented in the criminal justice system. The results reveal that Philadelphia citizens do have distinct opinions, in that a majority of...

The current study seeks to identify and describe low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk families within a county jail in Pennsylvania. Using official incarceration data, a subsample of individuals admitted to the jail during September to December 2009 were selected as study participants. Next, 20 years of official incarceration data from 1990-2009 we...

Within separate academic disciplines there exist two consistent findings that have emerged. Behavior geneticists, on one hand, continue to uncover moderate to high heritability estimates for virtually every human trait measurable. Evolutionary psychologists, on the other hand, have thoroughly documented species-wide universality in various human tr...

Purpose Several studies have observed a relationship between academic achievement and externalizing behaviors, both of which are predictors of delinquency and criminal behavior in adulthood. There is, however, no consensus on an explanation for their co-occurrence. One perspective is that both emerge as a result of a common underlying factor. This...

Delinquent peer association and criminal/delinquent behaviors are highly intertwined. The directionality and mechanisms underlying this relationship, however, have been debated in the literature for decades. The current study seeks to further inform this debate by examining whether individual differences at the level of the genome can help to expla...

A host of research has examined the possibility that environmental risk factors might condition the influence of genes on various outcomes. Less research, however, has been aimed at exploring the possibility that genetic factors might interact to impact the emergence of human traits. Even fewer studies exist examining the interaction of genes in th...

The influence that genes have on antisocial/criminal behavior has begun to receive a great deal of attention in the criminological literature. Studies that assess the association between criminal behavior and genetic polymorphisms do so by way of gene-behavior studies, gene × gene studies, and/or gene × environment studies. More specifically, resea...

The current study used a variable- and person-centered approach to examine whether a DRD4 polymorphism explained within-individual differences in frequency of marijuana use from adolescence into emerging adulthood. Data were analyzed from 1897 respondents from the genetic subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health...

Previous research has suggested that the print media over-report on certain demographics of abducted children. Specifically, cases where the abduction victim is younger or the abduction victim is female are most often covered. The purpose of the current study was to systematically examine, through the research technique of content analysis, whether...

Prenatal and perinatal risk factors, such as low birth weight, have been linked to higher levels of aggressive and destructive behaviours during childhood. Although low birth weight is associated with childhood externalizing behaviour, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain open to empirical investigation. The current study extends the...

Low self-control has emerged as a strong predictor of criminal conduct and analogous behaviors. Questions remain, however, as to the origins of self-control. Whereas some argue it is a trait instilled solely through a process of parental socialization, more recent research has suggested the possibility that self-control is interconnected with many...

Criminologists have long debated whether the risk factors for criminal behavior differ for males and females. Previous studies have predominantly focused on whether environmental risk factors for criminal behavior vary by gender, with little to no investigation of the impact of genetic sex differences. That is, whether the same genetic risk factors...

Purpose: The current study examines the stability of the risk-seeking component of self-control using a second-order latent class growth model. Methods: Longitudinal data from 962 respondents from the NLSY79-Child and Young Adult sample are used to examine the stability of the risk-seeking component of self-control from ages 14 to 23. Results: Data...

Studies have shown that there is a significant association between violent victimization and criminal behavior. One potential explanation for this association is that genetically mediated processes contribute to both violent victimization and criminal behavior. The current study uses data from the twin sample of the National Longitudinal Study of A...

Gottfredson and Hirschi acknowledge that there are sex differences in levels of self-control, with males exhibiting lower levels of self-control compared to females. There remains a gap in the empirical literature, however, as to whether differential parental treatment can explain differences in levels of self-control across the sexes. Using siblin...

PurposeThis study examined the views on crime causation from a sample of randomly selected Philadelphia area residents.Methods Through the use of a phone survey, residents (N = 359) were asked thirty seven questions related to their level of support for several criminological theories, including classical theory, biological theory, psychological th...

Research has shown that males, on average, exhibit lower levels of self-control compared to females. While previous research points to socialization processes as a way to explain the gender gap, the current study investigates whether there are genetic differences in self-control that are operating across the sexes in adolescence and adulthood. Firs...

Low self-control has emerged as a consistent and strong predictor of antisocial and delinquent behaviors. Using the twin subsample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), genetic analyses were conducted to examine the genetic and environmental contributions to low self-control and offending as well as to their relation...

While many studies have examined the effects of disruptive behaviors in the secondary classroom, few have focused on disruptive behaviors in the college classroom. Also, no study has examined whether concepts from criminological theories (i.e., self‐control and delinquent peer association) predict disruptive behaviors in the classroom, controlling...

While the field of criminology is rooted in sociological tradition, biosocial criminology has emerged as a promising perspective in studying antisocial behaviors. This perspective encompasses the research from other scientific disciplines, namely behavioral genetics and molecular genetics. At its core, biosocial criminology views criminal behavior...

The threshold hypothesis asserts that the prevalence of offending is lower among females because females have a higher threshold for risk than males. As a result, females who do offend should exhibit greater concentrations of genetic and environmental risk than male offenders. In light of these statements, the current study examines the role of gen...

The current study examined whether a dopamine receptor gene (DRD2) TaqIA polymorphism and a serotonin transporter polymorphism (5HTTLPR) moderate the effects of stressful life events on depression, and whether these interaction effects vary by type of stressor. In addition, individuals' responses to stressful life circumstances might vary by genoty...

Criminology has historically maligned biological perspectives despite the scientific rigor of the biological sciences. In recent years, however, a growing number of criminologists are incorporating biological, neurological, genetic, and neuropsychological constructs along with environmental measures into their research. This review explores the rel...

Using data from the Cincinnati Lead Study, this study examines the effects of postnatal blood lead concentrations in early childhood (78 months) on adult psychopathy and six subscales of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory. Results reveal that higher blood lead concentrations in early childhood are associated with higher levels of psychopathic s...

The current study examines whether the dopamine transporter (DAT1) VNTR polymorphism and paternal alcoholism are related to serious alcohol problems. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), we found that the DAT1 polymorphism interacted with paternal alcoholism to predict serious alcohol problems among mal...

Recent research has shown that a polymorphism in the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) moderates the association between stressful life events and depression. The present study builds off this literature and examines whether DRD2 moderates the effect of violent victimization on depression. Furthermore, the current analyses investigate whether the ef...

This study examines the extent to which criminal justice and criminology Ph.D. students are exposed to contemporary biological and genetic findings associated with aggression and violence. Drawing on multiple sources of information, we find little evidence showing that Ph.D. students are exposed to any biological research on crime and offending. We...

Using a difference scores approach, this study examines the effects of sibling differences in experiences both within and outside the home on differences in externalizing problem behavior. The results suggest that differences in parental monitoring, sibling interaction, and delinquent peer association are significantly related to sibling difference...

Antisocial behaviors are complex polygenic phenotypes that are due to a multifactorial arrangement of genetic polymorphisms. Little empirical research, however, has been undertaken that examines gene x gene interactions in the etiology of conduct disorder and antisocial behavior. This study examined whether adolescent conduct disorder and adult ant...