Conceptual shifts needed to understand the dynamic interactions of genes, environment, epigenetics, social processes, and behavioral choices

F.L.C. Jackson, M.D. Niculescu and R.T. Jackson

American Journal of Public Health, 2013, vol. 103, issue SUPPL.1, S33-S42

Abstract: Social and behavioral research in public health is often intimately tied to profound, but frequently neglected, biological influences from underlying genetic, environmental, and epigenetic events. The dynamic interplay between the life, social, and behavioral sciences often remains underappreciated and underutilized in addressing complex diseases and disorders and in developing effective remediation strategies. Usinga case-study format, we present examples as to howthe inclusionofgenetic, environmental, and epigenetic data can augment social and behavioral health research by expanding the parameters of such studies, adding specificity to phenotypic assessments, and providing additional internal control in comparative studies. We highlight the important roles of gene-environment interactions and epigenetics as sources of phenotypic change and as a bridge between the life and social and behavioral sciences in the development of robustinterdisciplinaryanalyses.

Keywords: article; behavioral research; behavioral science; decision making; diseases; environment; epigenetics; genetics; genotype environment interaction; human; methodology; phenotype; psychological aspect; psychology; social environment; sociology, Behavioral Research; Behavioral Sciences; Choice Behavior; Disease; Environment; Epigenomics; Gene-Environment Interaction; Humans; Phenotype; Psychology; Research Design; Social Environment; Social Sciences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2013.301221_5

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301221

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