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Is There an Active Gene-Environment Correlation in Adolescent Drinking Behavior?

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Abstract

A scale based on alcohol-related behaviors and an item on shared friends from the National Merit Twin Study were used in an attempt to confirm the finding of Cleveland et al. (1995, J Genet Psychol 166:153–169) of gene-environment correlation in adolescents’ drinking behavior, a correlation based on the differential selection of peers. Results from samples of 490 MZ and 336 same-sex DZ pairs were consistent in direction with the hypothesis, although quantitatively modest. This consistency appeared, however, to depend entirely on the female twins in the sample.

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Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Greg Carey for suggesting this analysis, and to Robert Nichols and the National Merit research staff for originally planning the twin study and gathering the data. Richard Rose, Matt McGue, and an anonymous referee provided helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A8000, Austin, TX, 78712-0187, USA

    John C. Loehlin

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  1. John C. Loehlin
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Correspondence to John C. Loehlin.

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Edited by Matt McGue.

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Loehlin, J.C. Is There an Active Gene-Environment Correlation in Adolescent Drinking Behavior?. Behav Genet 40, 447–451 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-010-9347-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-010-9347-z

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