Alcohol Use in Adolescent Twins and Affiliation with Substance Using Peers |
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Authors: | Jennifer Hill Robert E Emery K Paige Harden Jane Mendle Eric Turkheimer |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400400, Charlottesville, VA 22902, USA |
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Abstract: | Affiliation with substance using peers is one of the strongest predictors of adolescent alcohol use. This association is typically
interpreted causally: peers who drink incite their friends to drink. This association may be complicated by uncontrolled genetic
and environmental confounds because teens with familial predispositions for adolescent substance use may be more likely to
select into social networks where drinking is common. We test this alternative hypothesis using a sample of 1,820 twin and
sibling pairs, and their same-sex best friends, from three waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
Across all three waves, peer report of substance use did not influence adolescent alcohol use when genetic and shared environmental
predispositions for drinking were considered. The association between alcohol use and peer behavior may be a spurious association
attributable to a shared genetic liability to drink alcohol and associate with peers who drink alcohol. |
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Keywords: | Peers Adolescence Alcohol use Behavior genetics |
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