Terrie Moffitt studies how genetic and environmental risks work together to shape the course of
abnormal human behaviors and
psychiatric disorders. Her particular interest is in antisocial and
criminal behavior, but she also studies
depression,
psychosis,
addiction, and
cognitive aging. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, who completed her clinical hospital training at the
UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute (1984). Her work on the
Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study in
New Zealand has identified patterns of intimate as well as stranger crime, including discoveries about the role of females as initiators of
violence. Professor Moffitt is also carrying out an important large-scale follow-up of
twins in the UK to investigate biological, psychological, and social influences on
development. Her work since 2010 is leading the Dunedin Study into the study of aging.
Adolescence-limited and life-course persistent antisocial behavior Moffitt is best known for her theory of adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent offender
antisocial behavior. Moffitt's theory holds that there are two main types of antisocial offenders in society. Adolescence-limited offenders exhibit antisocial behavior only during adolescence. Life-course-persistent offenders begin to behave antisocially early in childhood and continue this behavior into adulthood. For her studies of
crime and
human development she was awarded the
Stockholm Prize in Criminology.
Gene-environment interaction (GxE) Moffitt is also known for her research on
gene-environment interaction (GxE). Her two publications in the journal
Science in 2002 and 2003 with her colleague and partner Avshalom Caspi were among the first reports of GxE in humans. The first paper showed that children who carried a
polymorphism in the
MAOA gene were more vulnerable to developing
antisocial behavior following exposure to
maltreatment during childhood. The second paper showed that individuals who carried a polymorphism in the
serotonin transporter gene (
SLC6A4) were more vulnerable to developing
depression following exposure to stressful life events. Moffitt and her colleagues have authored a number of articles on theory and methods in GxE research in the fields of
psychiatry,
psychology, and
neuroscience. Moffitt's research on GxE in the development of antisocial behavior has stimulated a global discussion of the idea of criminal intent and responsibility, as well as raising profound questions about humane strategies for crime prevention among abused children at risk of future violence. The second
Science paper, on the interaction of
SLC6A4 and life stress has generated enormous controversy, culminating in
meta-analyses published in leading journals in psychiatry and medicine. Some meta-analyses do not support the original finding, some do, and animal and imaging work on the hypothesis should also be considered. However, the general approach of studying candidate genes, which was the only approach available when Moffitt and Caspi's GxE work was done, has since 2010 been superseded by whole-genome approaches. ==National and International Service Committees==