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Which adolescent factors predict alcohol misuse in young adulthood? A co-twin comparisons study
Mallory Stephenson1, Peter Barr1, Albert Ksinan1
1Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Addiction (Abingdon, England)
|November 21, 2019
Summary
Adolescent substance use and positive alcohol expectancies predict young adult alcohol misuse. Higher academic performance also predicted increased alcohol misuse, even within twin pairs.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Genetics
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Adolescent risk factors for alcohol misuse are often studied in singleton samples, potentially confounding results with family-level differences.
- A co-twin comparison design can control for genetic and shared environmental influences when examining adolescent predictors of young adult alcohol misuse.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether intrapair differences in adolescent risk factors predict differences in young adult alcohol misuse.
- To identify robust predictors of alcohol misuse by utilizing a co-twin comparison design.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 3402 individuals from the FinnTwin12 study in Finland, including 1435 complete twin pairs.
- Adolescent predictors included academic performance, substance use, behavioral problems, peer influences, parental relationships, alcohol expectancies, and pubertal development.
- Young adult alcohol misuse was assessed using a composite score of alcohol use and intoxication frequency, analyzed via individual-level and co-twin comparisons.
Main Results:
- Individual-level analyses showed various adolescent factors predicting young adult alcohol misuse.
- Co-twin comparisons revealed that adolescent substance use and alcohol expectancies remained significant predictors.
- Higher academic performance in adolescence predicted higher young adult alcohol misuse, even when compared to a co-twin.
Conclusions:
- Adolescent substance use, positive alcohol expectancies, and higher academic performance are robust predictors of later alcohol misuse.
- The co-twin design helps to isolate individual-level risk factors from familial influences.
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