Is Apostasy Heritable? A Behavior Genetics Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason A. Freeman
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Behavior Genetics ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Factors Associated ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
Risk Taking Behaviors

AbstractThe present study explores whether genetic factors explain variation in the levels of apostasy — defined as a disengagement from religious belief, identity and/or practice — in a US-based sample during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. I posit that genetic factors at least partially explain the variance of three measures of apostasy: disengagement from religious institutions, cessation of prayer and religious disaffiliation. I argue that genetic factors associated with risk-taking behaviors, externalizing behaviors and/or correlates of apostasy may all influence the likelihood of becoming an apostate during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood in the USA. Results reveal that genetic factors explain approximately 34% of the variance in cessation of prayer and 75% of the variance in religious disaffiliation. However, genetic factors do not influence disengagement from religious institutions. This study advances our knowledge of the etiology of apostasy and highlights the need to incorporate genetic data into social scientific research.

scholarly journals Prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides and risk-taking behaviors in early adulthood

2022 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon K. Sagiv ◽  
Stephen Rauch ◽  
Katherine R. Kogut ◽  
Carly Hyland ◽  
Robert B. Gunier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prenatal Exposure ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Risk Taking Behaviors

Abstract Introduction Previous studies show evidence for associations of prenatal exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides with poorer childhood neurodevelopment. As children grow older, poorer cognition, executive function, and school performance can give rise to risk-taking behaviors, including substance abuse, delinquency, and violent acts. We investigated whether prenatal OP exposure was associated with these risk-taking behaviors in adolescence and young adulthood in a Mexican American cohort. Methods We measured urinary dialkyl phosphates (DAPs), non-specific metabolites of OPs, twice (13 and 26 weeks gestation) in pregnant women recruited in 1999–2000 in the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study, a birth cohort set in a primarily Latino agricultural community in the Salinas Valley, California. We followed up children throughout their childhood and adolescence; at the 18-year visit, adolescent youth (n = 315) completed a computer-based questionnaire which included questions about substance use, risky sexual activity, risky driving, and delinquency and police encounters. We used multivariable models to estimate associations of prenatal total DAPs with these risk-taking behaviors. Results The prevalence of risk-taking behaviors in CHAMACOS youth ranged from 8.9% for smoking or vaping nicotine to 70.2% for committing a delinquent act. Associations of total prenatal DAPs (geometric mean = 132.4 nmol/L) with risk-taking behavior were generally null and imprecise. Isolated findings included a higher risk for smoking or vaping nicotine within the past 30 days (relative risk [RR] per 10-fold increase in prenatal DAPs = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.00, 3.56) and driving without a license (RR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.25, 2.42). There were no consistent differences by sex or childhood adversity. Discussion We did not find clear or consistent evidence for associations of prenatal OP exposure with risk-taking behaviors in adolescence/early adulthood in the CHAMACOS population. Our small sample size may have prevented us from detecting potentially subtle associations of early life OP exposure with these risk-taking behaviors.

scholarly journals Prenatal Exposure to Organophosphate Pesticides and Risk-Taking Behaviors in Early Adulthood

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon K. Sagiv ◽  
Stephen Rauch ◽  
Katherine R. Kogut ◽  
Carly Hyland ◽  
Robert B. Gunier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prenatal Exposure ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Small Sample Size ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Early Adulthood ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Childhood And Adolescence ◽  
Risk Taking Behaviors

Abstract Introduction: Previous studies show evidence for associations of prenatal exposure to organophosphate (OP) pesticides with poorer childhood neurodevelopment. As children grow older, poorer cognition and executive function can give rise to risk-taking behaviors, including substance abuse, delinquency, and violent acts. We investigated whether prenatal OP exposure was associated with these risk-taking behaviors in adolescence and young adulthood in a Mexican American cohort. Methods: We measured urinary dialkyl phosphates (DAPs), non-specific metabolites of OPs, in pregnant women recruited in 1999-2000 in the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study, a birth cohort set in a primarily Latino community living in proximity to agricultural fields in Salinas Valley, California. We followed up children throughout their childhood and adolescence; at the 18-year visit, adolescent youth (n=315) completed a computer-based questionnaire which included questions about substance use, risky sexual activity, risky driving, and delinquency and police encounters. We used multivariable models to estimate associations of prenatal total DAPs with these risk-taking behaviors. Results: The prevalence of risk-taking behaviors in CHAMACOS youth ranged from 8.9% for smoking or vaping nicotine to 70.2% for committing a delinquent act. Associations of total prenatal DAPs (geometric mean=132.4 nmol/L) with risk-taking behavior were generally null and imprecise. Isolated findings included a higher risk for smoking or vaping nicotine within the past 30 days (relative risk [RR] per 10-fold increase in prenatal DAPs = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.00, 3.56) and driving without a license (RR=1.74, 95% CI: 1.25, 2.42). There were no consistent differences by sex or childhood adversity. Discussion: We did not find clear or consistent evidence for associations of prenatal OP exposure with risk-taking behaviors in adolescence/early adulthood in the CHAMACOS population. Our small sample size may have prevented us from detecting potentially subtle associations of OPs with these risk-taking behaviors.

Risk-Taking Behaviors in Adolescents

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin M. von Ranson ◽  
Susan L. Rosenthal
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Risk Taking Behaviors

Disability, the ‘good family’ and discrimination in the dismissal of a Presbyterian seminary professor

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Hobbs
Keyword(s):  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Employment Practices ◽  
Conservative Christianity ◽  
Employment Termination ◽  
Good Family ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Witness Statements ◽  
Religious Higher Education

Religious institutions in the USA, under the First Amendment, exhibit great strength in employment termination, given freedom by the Supreme Court to conduct their labour and employment practices with limited scrutiny. This article examines ways in which a Presbyterian seminary board report, justifying its decision not to renew a professor's contract, demonstrates discrimination in its use of the 'good family' ideal prominent within conservative Christianity. Focusing on intertextuality and representation of the professor's wife, a disabled woman, analysis presents evidence of an overall strategy of exclusion. The report consistently demonstrates support for negative witness statements about the professor and his wife while undermining the professor's accounts. The report's characterization of the professor's wife subsumes her identity under her husband's and assumes moral reasons for her disability and chronic illness, consistent with a nouthetic counselling ethos. Findings support the discriminatory potential of the 'good family' ideal, underscoring employees' unique vulnerability within religious higher education institutions. 

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