About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about how genes interact with the environment, focusing in particular on: (i) the solution to the nature nurture debate being that both impact factors between individuals, as well as interacting with each other; (ii) parental conflict as an example environmental factor that can influence mental health and psychopathology in children; (iii) continuing with parental conflict as an example by demonstrating how the attribution that children can make between themselves and their parents’ conflict can act as a moderator on the impact of parental conflict on their mental health; (iv) macro environmental factors, e.g. societal constructs like socioeconomic status, which can influence how genes within a population are expressed; (v) differentiating gene-environment correlation and gene-environment interaction; (vi) a brief introduction to epigenetics.

About the lecturer

Professor Yulia Kovas is a professor of genetics and psychology in the Department of Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Professor Kovas’ research interests include the development of individual differences in cognitive abilities, emotional and motivational processes, and academic achievement. Some of Professor Kovas’ recent publications include 'Individual differences in mathematical ability: A behavioral genetic approach' (2015) and 'Math anxiety in children with and without mathematical difficulties: the role of gender and genetic factors' (2019).