Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Shared Environmental Contributions to Substance Use

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Behavior Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The current study examined the association between substance use in the household during childhood, parental attitudes towards substance use and lifetime substance use in males. Subjects included 1081 monozygotic and 707 dizygotic twins from the Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders. Retrospective reports of substance use and features of the family environment (adult household substance use and parental attitudes towards substance use) were obtained using a life history interview. A trivariate Cholesky decomposition was conducted using the program Mx to decompose common shared environmental variance. Findings suggest that family environmental factors accounted for a large proportion of the shared environmental effects for illicit drug use. Results illustrate an important way of extending behavior genetic research to reveal specific etiological environmental mechanisms.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agrawal A, Lynskey MT (2006) The genetic epidemiology of cannabis use, abuse and dependence. Addiction 101(6):801–812

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal A, Lynskey MT (2008) Are there genetic influences on addiction: evidence from family, adoption and twin studies. Addiction 103(7):1069–1081

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allen M, Donohue MA, Griffin A, Ryan D, Mitchell Turner MM (2003) Comparing the influence of parents and peers on the choice to use drugs: a meta-analytic summary of the literature. Crim Justice Behav 30(2):163–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews JA, Hops H, Ary D, Tildesley E, Harris J (1993) Parental influence on early adolescent substance use: specific and nonspecific effects. J Early Adolesc 13(3):285–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews JA, Hops H, Duncan SC (1997) Adolescent modeling of parent substance use: the moderating effect of the relationship with the parent. J Fam Psychol 11(3):259–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker JH, Maes HH, Larsson H, Lichtenstein P, Kendler KS (2011) Sex differences and developmental stability in genetic and environmental influences on psychoactive substance consumption from early adolescence to young adulthood. Psychol Med 41(9):1907–1916

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bauman KE, Ennett ST (1996) On the importance of peer influence for adolescent drug use: commonly neglected considerations. Addiction 91(2):185–198

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Belli RF (1998) The structure of autobiographical memory and the event history calendar: potential improvements in the quality of retrospective reports in surveys. Memory 6(4):383–406

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burt SA (2009) Rethinking environmental contributions to child and adolescent psychopathology: a meta-analysis of shared environmental influences. Psychol Bull 135(4):608–637

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burt SA, Krueger RF, McGue M, Iacono W (2003) Parent-child conflict and the comorbidity among childhood externalizing disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry 60(5):505–513

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burt SA, McGue M, Krueger R, Iacono W (2007) Environmental contributions to adolescent delinquency: a fresh look at the shared environment. J Abnorm Child Psychol 35(5):787–800

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chassin L, Pillow DR, Curran PJ, Molina BSG, Barrera M Jr (1993) Relation of parental alcoholism to early adolescent substance use: a test of three mediating mechanisms. J Abnorm Psychol 102(1):3–19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chilcoat HD, Anthony JC (1996) Impact of parent monitoring on initiation of drug use through late childhood. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 35(1):91–100

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cook LS, White JL, Stuart GC, Magliocco AM (2003) The reliability of telephone interviews compared with in-person interviews using memory aids. Ann Epidemiol 13(7):495–501

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doherty WJ, Allen W (1994) Family functioning and parental smoking as predictors of adolescent cigarette use: a six-year prospective study. J Fam Psychol 8(3):347–353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farrell MP, Barnes GM, Banerjee S (1995) Family cohesion as a buffer against the effects of problem-drinking fathers on psychological distress, deviant behavior, and heaving drinking adolescents. J Health Soc Behav 36(4):377–385

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Freedman D, Thornton A, Camburn D, Alwin D, Young-DeMarco L (1988) The life history calendar: a technique for collecting retrospective data. Sociol Methodol 18:37–68

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gillespie NA, Kendler KS, Prescott CA, Aggen SH, Gardner CO, Jacobson K, Neale MC (2007) Longitudinal modeling of genetic and environmental influences on self-reported availability of psychoactive substances: alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine and stimulants. Psychol Med 37(7):947–959

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Glynn TJ (1980) From family to peer: a review of transitions of influence among drug-using youth. J Youth Adolesc 38:57–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawkins DJ, Catalano RF, Miller YJ (1992) Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychol Bull 112:64–105

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heath AC, Martin NG (1988) Teenage alcohol use in the Australian twin register: genetic and social determinants of starting to drink. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 12(6):735–741

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hicks BM, Blonigen DM, Kramer MD, Krueger RF, Patrick CJ, Iacono WG, McGue M (2007) Gender differences and developmental change in externalizing disorders from late adolescence to early adulthood: a longitudinal twin study. J Abnorm Psychol 116(3):433–447

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hill J, Emery JH, Harden KP, Mendle J, Turkheimer E (2008) Alcohol use in adolescent twins and affiliation with substance using peers. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36(1):81–94

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hopfer CJ, Crowley TJ, Hewitt JK (2003) Review of twin and adoption studies of adolescent substance use. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 42(6):710–719

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hops H, Andrews JA, Duncan SC, Duncan TE, Tildesley E (2000) Adolescent drug use development: a social interactional and contextual perspective. In: Sameroff AJ, Lewis M, Miller SM (eds) Handbook of developmental psychopathology. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York, pp 589–605

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Iannotti RJ, Bush PJ, Weinfurt KP (1996) Perception of friends’ use of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana among urban schoolchildren: a longitudinal analysis. Addict Behav 21(5):615–632

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kandel DB (1996) The parental and peer contexts of adolescent deviance: an algebra of interpersonal influences. J Drug Issues 26(2):289–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS (1996) Parenting: a genetic-epidemiologic perspective. Am J Psychiatry 153:11–20

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Prescott CA (1998a) Cannabis use, abuse, and dependence in a population-based sample of female twins. Am J Psychiatry 155(8):1016–1022

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Prescott CA (1998b) Cocaine use, abuse and dependence in a population-based sample of female twins. Br J Psychiatry 173:345–350

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Prescott CA (2006) Genes, environment, and psychopathology: understanding the causes of psychiatric and substance use disorders. Guilford Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Karkowski LM, Corey LA, Prescott CA, Neale M (1999) Genetic and environmental risk factors in the aetiology of illicit drug initiation and subsequent misuse in women. Br J Psychiatry 175(4):351–356

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Karkowski LM, Corey LA, Prescott CA (2000) Illicit psychoactive substance use, heavy use, abuse, and dependence in a US population-based sample of male twins. Arch Gen Psychiatry 57(3):261–269

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Jacobson KC, Prescott CA, Neale MC (2003) Specificity of genetic and environmental risk factors for use and abuse/dependence of cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, sedatives, stimulants, and opiates in male twins. Am J Psychiatry 160(4):687–695

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler KS, Schmitt E, Aggen SH, Prescott CA (2008) Genetic and environmental influences on alcohol, caffeine, cannabis, and nicotine use from early adolescence to middle adulthood. Arch Gen Psychiatry 65(6):674–682

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koopmans JR, Slutske WS, Heath AC, Neale MC, Boomsma DI (1999) The genetics of smoking initiation and quantity smoked in dutch adolescent and young adult twins. Behav Genet 29(6):383–393

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kosterman R, Hawkins JD, Guo J, Catalano RF, Abbott RD (2000) The dynamics of alcohol and marijuana initiation: patterns and predictors of first use in adolescence. Am J Public Health 90(3):360

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li C, Pentz MA, Chou CP (2002) Parental substance use as a modifier of adolescent substance use risk. Addiction 97(12):1537–1550

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Li MD, Cheng R, Ma JZ, Swan GE (2003) A meta-analysis of estimated genetic and environmental effects on smoking behavior in male and female adult twins. Addiction 98(1):23–31

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin N, Boomsma DI, Machin G (1997) A twin-pronged attack on complex traits. Nat Genet 17:387–392

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McGue M, Bouchard TJ (1998) Genetic and environmental influences on human behavioral difference. Annu Rev Neurosci 21(1):1–24

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nash SG, McQueen A, Bray JH (2005) Pathways to adolescent alcohol use: family environment, peer influence, and parental expectations. J Adolesc Health 37(1):19–28

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nation M, Heflinger CA (2006) Risk factors for serious alcohol and drug use: the role of psychosocial variables in predicting the frequency of substance use among adolescents. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 32(3):415–433

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Neale MC (1997) Mx: Statistical modeling. Medical College of Virginia, Richmond

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagan JL, Rose RJ, Viken RJ, Pulkkinen L, Kaprio J, Dick DM (2006) Genetic and environmental influences on stages of alcohol use across adolescence and into young adulthood. Behav Genet 36(4):483–497

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pike A, McGuire S, Hetherington EM, Reiss D, Plomin R (1996) Family environment and adolescent depressive symptoms and antisocial behavior: a multivariate genetic analysis. Dev Psychol 32(4):590–604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plomin R, Daniels D (1987) Why are children in the same family so different from one another? Behav Brain Sci 10:101–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Plomin R, Asbury K, Dip PG, Dunn J (2001) Why are children in the same family so different? Nonshared environment a decade later. Can J Psychiatry 46(3):225–233

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prescott CA, Kendler KS (1999) Genetic and environmental contributions to alcohol abuse and dependence in a population-based sample of male twins. Am J Psychiatry 156(1):34–40

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Purcell S, Koenen KC (2005) Environmental mediation and the twin design. Behav Genet 35(4):491–498

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rai AA, Stanton B, Wu Y, Li X, Galbraith J, Cottrell L, Pack R, Harris C, D’Alessandri D, Burns J (2003) Relative influences of perceived parental monitoring and perceived peer involvement on adolescent risk behaviors: an analysis of six cross-sectional data sets. J Adolesc Health 33(2):108–118

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rende R, Slomkowski C (2009) Incorporating the family as a critical context in genetic studies of children: implications for understanding pathways to risky behavior and substance use. J Pediatr Psychol 34(6):606–616

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rhee SH, Hewitt JK, Young SE, Corley RP, Crowley TJ, Stallings MC (2003) Genetic and environmental influences on substance initiation, use, and problem use in adolescents. Arch Gen Psychiatry 60(12):1256–1264

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sargent JD, Dalton M (2001) Does parental disapproval of smoking prevent adolescents from becoming established smokers? Pediatrics 108(6):1256–1262

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • SAS (2008) SAS/STATS User’s Guide, Release 9.2. SAS Institute Inc, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • Simons-Morton B, Haynie DL, Crump AD, Eitel P, Saylor KE (2001) Peer and parent influences on smoking and drinking among early adolescents. Health Educ Behav 28(1):95–107

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stallings MC, Hewitt JK, Beresford T, Heath AC, Eaves LJ (1999) A twin study of drinking and smoking onset and latencies from first use to regular use. Behav Genet 29(6):409–421

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stice E, Barrera M Jr (1995) A longitudinal examination of the reciprocal relations between perceived parenting and adolescents’ substance use and externalizing behaviors. Dev Psychol 31(2):322–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turkheimer E, D’Onofrio BM, Maes HH, Eaves LJ (2005) Analysis and interpretation of twin studies including measures of the shared environment. Child Dev 76(6):1217–1233

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van den Bree MBM, Johnson EO, Neale MC, Pickens RW (1998) Genetic and environmental influences on drug use and abuse/dependence in male and female twins. Drug Alcohol Depend 52(3):231–241

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walden B, McGue M, Iacono W, Burt SA, Elkins I (2004) Identifying shared environmental contributions to early substance use: the respective roles of peers and parents. J Abnorm Psychol 113(3):440–450

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Webster RA, Hunter M, Keats JA (1994) Peer and parental influences on adolescents’ substance use: a path analysis. Int J Addict 29(5):647–657

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • White HR, Johnson V, Buyske S (2000) Parental modeling and parenting behavior effects on offspring alcohol and cigarette use a growth curve analysis. J Subst Abuse 12(3):287–310

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshihama M, Clum K, Crampton A, Gillespie B (2002) Measuring the lifetime experience of domestic violence: application of the life history calendar method. Violence Vict 17(3):297–317

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Young SE, Rhee SH, Stallings MC, Corley RP, Hewitt JK (2006) Genetic and environmental vulnerabilities underlying adolescent substance use and problem use: general or specific? Behav Genet 36(4):603–615

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by NIH grants MH-40828, MH/AA/DA-49492 and DA-011287. Dr. Maes is supported by DA018673, DA0f22989 and DA024413. A portion of the manuscript preparation was supported by T32-MH20030 (JHB).

Conflict of interest

Authors have no financial relationships to disclose. The authors had full control of the data and agree to allow the journal to review data if requested.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavior Genetics, Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Box 980126, Richmond, VA, 23298, USA

    Jessica H. Baker, Hermine H. Maes & Kenneth S. Kendler

  2. Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Jessica H. Baker

  3. Department of Human & Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Hermine H. Maes & Kenneth S. Kendler

  4. Massey Cancer Center, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Hermine H. Maes

Authors
  1. Jessica H. Baker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Hermine H. Maes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kenneth S. Kendler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenneth S. Kendler.

Additional information

Edited by Matt McGue.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Baker, J.H., Maes, H.H. & Kendler, K.S. Shared Environmental Contributions to Substance Use. Behav Genet 42, 345–353 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-011-9516-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-011-9516-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation