Although replication of this study’s results are needed, our findings strengthen the case for development and rigorous testing of prevention strategies that target parent monitoring as a potentially malleable risk factor for nicotine dependence, in particular among individuals with the high risk genotype of rs16969968. It is possible that those with moderate to high parent monitoring during middle school ages have significantly more limited opportunities for experimenting with tobacco or smoking regularly, and the likelihood of developing nicotine dependence for those individuals is reduced despite the increased genetic risk. This possibility is consistent with previous studies that suggested that higher levels of parental involvement/reinforcement might help shield youths from substance exposure opportunity from mid-childhood to early adulthood, indicating a possible mechanism of protection against early-onset substance involvement (38), and which creates an environment that minimizes the opportunity to express genetic predispositions. However, when adolescents receive low parent monitoring, it creates a different environment that allows for greater opportunity to express genetic predispositions to develop nicotine dependence. Though parent monitoring is good for all, in the context of the genetic risk for nicotine dependence, it is more salient for those with the rs16969968 risk genotype.
