Age at first use and later substance use disorder: Shared genetic and environmental pathways for nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral genetic studies have provided insights into why early substance use initiation is associated with increased risk for disorder. Few genetically informative studies, however, have operationalized initiation as the timing of first use and simultaneously modeled the timing of initiation and problematic use of multiple substances. Such research can help capture the risk associated with early initiation and determine the extent to which genetic and environmental risk generalizes across substances. This study utilized a behavior genetic approach to examine the relation between the age of substance use initiation and symptoms of substance use disorder. Participants were 7,285 monozygotic and dizygotic twins (40% male, mean age at interview = 30.6 years) from the Australian Twin Registry

SUBMITTER: Richmond-Rakerd LS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5061603 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature