Adolescent alcohol abuse and adverse adult outcomes: evaluating confounds with drinking-discordant twins.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Adolescent alcohol abuse is associated with adverse outcomes in early adulthood, but differences in familial status and structure and household and community environments correlate with both adolescent drinking and adverse adult outcomes and may explain their association. We studied drinking-discordant twin pairs to evaluate such confounds to ask: Will between-family associations replicate in within-family comparisons?

Methods

With longitudinal data from >3,000 Finnish twins, we associated drinking problems at age 18½ with 13 outcomes assessed at age 25; included were sustained substance abuse, poor health, physical symptoms, early coital debut, multiple sexual partners, life dissatisfaction, truncated education, and financial problems. We assessed associations am

SUBMITTER: Rose RJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4146743 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature