Genetic and environmental contributions to initiation of cigarette smoking in young African-American and European-American women.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Distinctions in the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to initiation of cigarette smoking may explain, in part, the differences between African Americans and European Americans in the prevalence of smoking. The current investigation is the first to compare heritable and environmental influences on smoking initiation between African-American and European-American women.

Methods

Data were drawn from Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study participants and female Missouri Family Study participants (n=4498; 21% African-American, the remainder European-American). Mean ages at first and last assessments were 17.0 (SD=3.5) and 24.0 (SD=3.2), respectively. Twin-sibling modeling was conducted to estimate the proportion of variance in smoking initiati

SUBMITTER: Sartor CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4663123 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature