Identifying risk factors involved in the common versus specific liabilities to substance use: A genetically informed approach.

ABSTRACT: Individuals most often use several rather than one substance among alcohol, cigarettes or cannabis. This widespread co-occurring use of multiple substances is thought to stem from a common liability that is partly genetic in origin. Genetic risk may indirectly contribute to a common liability to substance use through genetically influenced mental health vulnerabilities and individual traits. To test this possibility, we used polygenic scores indexing mental health and individual traits and examined their association with the common versus specific liabilities to substance use. We used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (N = 4218) and applied trait-state-occasion models to delineate the common and substance-specific factors based on four classes of substances (alc

SUBMITTER: Iob E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8427469 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature