Terrie Moffitt, PhD

Terrie E. Moffitt researches the interplay between nature and nurture in the origins of problem behaviors. Her particular interest is in antisocial and criminal behaviors. She is Associate Director of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study in New Zealand, which conducts a 32-year longitudinal study of a 1972 birth cohort of 1000 individuals and their families. She also directs the Environmental-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study ("E-risk"), which follows a 1994 birth cohort of 1116 British families with twins.

For her research, she has received the American Psychological Association's Early Career Contribution Award (1993) and Distinguished Career Award in Clinical Child Psychology (2006), and the Stockholm Prize for her work in criminology (2007). She is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999), the American Society of Criminology (2003), the British Academy (2004), and Academia Europaea (2005).

She has served on investigative panels for institutions such as the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (ethics of behavioral genetic research) and the US National Academy of Sciences (research into firearms and violence).

Recent Publications

Development and evaluation of a genetic risk score for obesity.

Belsky DW, Moffitt TE, Sugden K, Williams B, Houts R, McCarthy J, Caspi A, Biodemography Soc Biol. 2013;59(1):85-100. Abstract

Retinal Vessel Caliber and Lifelong Neuropsychological Functioning: Retinal Imaging as an Investigative Tool for Cognitive Epidemiology.

Shalev I, Moffitt TE, Wong TY, Meier MH, Houts RM, Ding J, Cheung CY, Ikram MK, Caspi A, Poulton R, Psychol Sci. 2013 May 15;. Abstract

Chronic bullying victimization across school transitions: The role of genetic and environmental influences.

Bowes L, Maughan B, Ball H, Shakoor S, Ouellet-Morin I, Caspi A, Moffitt TE, Arseneault L, Dev Psychopathol. 2013 May;25(2):333-46. Abstract

Reply to Rogeberg and Daly: No evidence that socioeconomic status or personality differences confound the association between cannabis use and IQ decline.

Moffitt TE, Meier MH, Caspi A, Poulton R, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Mar 12;110(11):E980-2. Abstract

Polygenic risk and the developmental progression to heavy, persistent smoking and nicotine dependence: evidence from a 4-decade longitudinal study.

Belsky DW, Moffitt TE, Baker TB, Biddle AK, Evans JP, Harrington H, Houts R, Meier M, Sugden K, Williams B, Poulton R, Caspi A, JAMA Psychiatry. 2013 May 1;70(5):534-42. Abstract

more publications

IGSP Faculty

Knut Schmidt Nielsen Professor
Professor, Duke Psychology and Neuroscience Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences