Early onset alcohol use and self-harm: a discordant twin analysis.
- Authors
- Few, Lauren R; Werner, Kimberly B; Sartor, Carolyn E; Grant, Julia D; Trull, Timothy J; Nock, Matthew K; Bucholz, Kathleen K; Deitz, Sarah K; Glowinski, Anne L; Martin, Nicholas G; Nelson, Elliot C; Statham, Dixie J; Madden, Pamela A F; Heath, Andrew C; Lynskey, Michael T; Agrawal, Arpana
- Year
- 2015
- Journal
- Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research
- PMID
- 26463647
- DOI
- 10.1111/acer.12889
- PMCID
- PMC4729363
BACKGROUND: Self-harm has considerable societal and economic costs and has been extensively studied in relation to alcohol involvement. Although early onset alcohol use (EAU) has been causally linked to maladaptive clinical outcomes, its association with self-harm is less well characterized. This study aimed to further examine the link between EAU and both nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempt (SA), and elucidate shared familial and causal/individual-specific pathways that explain this co-occurrence. METHODS: Using data from 6,082 Australian same-sex twin pairs (1,732 monozygotic [MZ] and 1,309 dizygotic [DZ]), ages 23 to 40, we examined prevalence rates of NSSI and SA among twin pairs concordant and discordant for EAU. Conditional logistic regression, controlling for early clinical covariates and the influence of zygosity on EAU, was used to examine the odds ratio (OR) of self-harm within twin pairs discordant for EAU. RESULTS: Prevalence rates of both NSSI and SA were highest among twin pairs concordant for EAU and for twins who reported EAU within discordant twin pairs. Results from discordant twin analyses revealed nearly 4-fold increased odds of SA for the twin who endorsed EAU, and this OR was equal across MZ and DZ twins. EAU also was associated with elevated odds of NSSI (OR = 7.62), although this was only the case for DZ twins in discordant pairs. CONCLUSIONS: The equivalent increase in odds of SA for both MZ and DZ twins suggests that causal or individual-specific influences explain the link between EAU and SA. For NSSI, elevated odds for DZ twins and nonsignificant findings for MZ twins implicate correlated genetic factors in the association between EAU and NSSI. Future studies should test mechanisms through which EAU may causally influence SA, as well as examine whether genetic risk for third variables (e.g., negative urgency, stress reactivity) may explain the genetic overlap between EAU and NSSI.
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| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| adolescents | cohort |
| adolescent sample | cohort |
| adult sample | cohort |
| African‑American Cohort local | cohort |
| age at first drink | phenotype |
| alcohol | phenotype |
| alcohol abuse | phenotype |
| alcohol dependence | phenotype |
| Alcohol Use | phenotype |
| Alcohol Use Disorder | phenotype |
| anhedonia | phenotype |
| Australian Caucasian Cohort local | cohort |
| Australian population | cohort |
| Australian Twin Registry | cohort |
| Being Drunk local | phenotype |
| borderline personality disorder | phenotype |
| burning local | phenotype |
| cannabis use | phenotype |
| Concordant Twin Pairs local | cohort |
| conduct disorder | phenotype |
| current study | cohort |
| cutting local | phenotype |
| depression | phenotype |
| disinhibition | phenotype |
| drinking heavily local | drug |
| early alcohol use | phenotype |
| Early sex | phenotype |
| early smoking | phenotype |
| early substance use | phenotype |
| EAU local | drug |
| EAU exposed twin in discordant pairs local | cohort |
| European‑American Cohort local | cohort |
| excessive alcohol consumption | phenotype |
| Excessive Alcohol Use local | drug |
| Familial support local | phenotype |
| Family history of excessive alcohol use local | phenotype |
| family history of suicide local | phenotype |
| Family history of suicide local | phenotype |
| feeling depressed local | phenotype |
| fighting | phenotype |
| frontal cortex | anatomy |
| full sample | cohort |
| hanging local | phenotype |
| heavy drinking | phenotype |
| Hurting animals local | phenotype |
| impulsivity | phenotype |
| inhibitory control | phenotype |
| Later-onset Users local | cohort |
| lifetime alcohol use | phenotype |
| Lifetime non-drinkers local | phenotype |
| marijuana | phenotype |
| medication ingestion local | phenotype |
| MSM local | cohort |
| MZF local | cohort |
| negative urgency | phenotype |
| non-drinking controls local | cohort |
| non-suicidal self-injury local | phenotype |
| Non-suicidal self-injury local | phenotype |
| Non‑suicidal self‑injury local | phenotype |
| Non-suicidal Self-Injury local | phenotype |
| Non-Suicidal Self-Injury local | phenotype |
| Non‑Suicidal Self‑Injury local | phenotype |
| NSSI local | phenotype |
| other substances | phenotype |
| participants | cohort |
| Peer approval of alcohol local | phenotype |
| peer delinquency | phenotype |
| peer use | phenotype |
| physical abuse | phenotype |
| Poor Clinical Outcomes local | phenotype |
| poor inhibitory control | phenotype |
| positive parenting | phenotype |
| risk-taking behavior | phenotype |
| Risky Behavior count local | phenotype |
| SA | phenotype |
| Same-sex monozygotic twins local | cohort |
| Same-sex Twins local | cohort |
| self-harm | phenotype |
| self-reported impulsivity | phenotype |
| sex | phenotype |
| Shoplifting local | phenotype |
| singletons | cohort |
| strange thoughts local | phenotype |
| study cohort | cohort |
| suicide | phenotype |
| Twin cohort | cohort |
| Twin pairs concordant for Excessive alcohol use local | cohort |
| Twin pairs concordant for no Excessive alcohol use local | cohort |
| Unexposed twin in discordant pairs local | cohort |
| using drugs local | drug |
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In this knowledge base
| Title | Year | PMID |
|---|---|---|
| Early-onset tobacco use and suicide-related behavior - A prospective study from adolescence to young adulthood. | 2018 | 29245024 |
External
| Title | Authors | Journal | Year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investigating the bidirectional association between alcohol use and suicidal thoughts and behaviors in a population from the United States. | Lannoy S et al. | — | 2026 | → |
| Correlation and risk factor analysis of suicidal behavior in adolescents with depression: the impact of stress and childhood trauma. | Dai L et al. | — | 2025 | → |
| Identifying clinical risk factors correlated with addictive features of non-suicidal self-injury among a consecutive psychiatric outpatient sample of adolescents and young adults. | Ying W et al. | — | 2024 | → |
| An observational study on deliberate self-harm in individuals with alcohol dependence syndrome. | Sutradhar B et al. | — | 2023 | → |
| Different Ways to Drown Out the Pain: A Meta-Analysis of the Association Between Nonsuicidal Self-Injury and Alcohol Use. | Bresin K et al. | — | 2022 | → |
| A Qualitative Study of Understanding Reasons for Self-Harm in Adolescent Girls. | Miller M et al. | — | 2021 | → |
| Relationship Between the Early Initiation of Substance Use and Attempted Suicide Among in-School Adolescents in Seven Low- or Middle-Income African Countries: An Analysis of the Global School-Based Student Health Survey Data. | Li L et al. | — | 2021 | → |
| Gender differences in self-harm and drinking behaviors among high school students in Beijing, China. | Li CQ et al. | — | 2020 | → |
| Early-onset tobacco use and suicide-related behavior - A prospective study from adolescence to young adulthood. | Korhonen T et al. | — | 2018 | → |