Early maturation and substance use across adolescence and young adulthood: A longitudinal study of Finnish twins.

ABSTRACT: Early maturation, indexed by pubertal development (PD), has been associated with earlier initiation and greater frequency of adolescent substance use, but this relationship may be biased by confounding factors and effects that change across development. Using a population-based Finnish twin sample (N = 3,632 individuals), we conducted twin modeling and multilevel structural equation modeling of the relationship between PD and substance use at ages 12-22. Shared environmental factors contributed to early PD and heavier substance use for females. Biological father absence was associated with early PD for boys but not girls, and did not account for the relationship between PD and substance use. The association between early PD and heavier substance use was partially due to between-family conf

SUBMITTER: Savage JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5680125 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature