The effects of age at drinking onset and stressful life events on alcohol use in adulthood: a replication and extension using a population-based twin sample.
- Authors
- Lee, Lewina O; Young-Wolff, Kelly C; Kendler, Kenneth S; Prescott, Carol A
- Year
- 2012
- Journal
- Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research
- PMID
- 21895722
- DOI
- 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01630.x
- PMCID
- PMC3319316
BACKGROUND: A study by Dawson and colleagues (Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2007; 31:69) using data from National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Condition found earlier drinking onset age, and higher levels of past-year stressful life events (SLE) were associated with higher past-year alcohol consumption. The aims of our study were as follows: (i) to attempt to replicate this interaction; (ii) to extend it by examining sex and event dependence as potential moderators of the effect; and (iii) to estimate the roles of genetic and environmental factors in mediating the overlap of early drinking onset and SLE in their relations with alcohol consumption. METHODS: Data were from 1,382 female and 2,218 male drinkers interviewed as part of the Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders. Regression models were used to evaluate the main and interactive effects of early drinking onset and moderate or severe past-year SLE on past-year drinking density (PYDD), a weighted quantity-frequency measure of alcohol consumption. Analyses adjusted for demographic covariates and were stratified by sex and whether SLE were independent or dependent on the person's actions, as rated by interviewers. Structural twin models were used to estimate the degree to which early drinking onset, SLE, and their interaction accounted for additive genetic, common environmental and individual-specific variance in PYDD. RESULTS: We replicated the prior finding of a main effect of higher alcohol consumption among individuals reporting earlier drinking onset. Age at drinking onset accounted for about 5% of the variation in PYDD, and this association was mostly attributable to overlapping genetic influences. Evidence for an interaction between onset age and SLE was generally weak, possibly because of lower power and other methodological differences from Dawson and colleagues' study. However, there was some evidence consistent with an interaction of higher PYDD among early drinking men who experienced independent SLE and early drinking women with dependent SLE. CONCLUSIONS: We confirmed prior findings of an association between early age at drinking onset with higher past-year drinking among young- and middle-aged adults and found limited evidence supporting a replication for higher stress-related drinking among early-onset drinkers. The association is consistent with early onset and stress-related drinking being attributable to overlapping genetic liability. Among early drinkers, our results suggest sex differences in consumption with regard to event dependence.
Model used for estimation of genetic and environmental sources of variation in past-year drinking density, partialing age at drinking onset, stressful life events, and their interaction. Rectangles represent manifest variables, circles represent latent variables, triangle represents PYDD intercept. SLE, stressful life events; Onset14, drinking onset ≤14; Onset17, drinking onset ≤17; PYDD, past-year drinking density; Genetic, variation in PYDD because of additive genetic effects; Common Envt, variation in PYDD because of experiences shared by twins in a pair; Indiv Envt, variation in PYDD unique to 1 twin in a pair. The effects of demographic covariates (marital status, years of education, and family income) have been partialled from PYDD prior to model-fitting. Model was fit separately to data from male and female twin pairs.
Model prediction of past-year drinking density (PYDD) by number of stressful life events in the past year and age of drinking onset in (A) females and (B) males. Expected values of PYDD are based on group means on demographic characteristics and estimates from Models F5 and M5 in Table 2. Only stressful life events of at least high-moderate severity were included.
Model prediction of past-year drinking density (PYDD) by number of dependent stressful life events in the past year and age of drinking onset in (A) females and (B) males. Expected values of PYDD are based on group means on demographic characteristics and estimates from Table 3. Only stressful life events of at least high-moderate severity were included.
Model prediction of past-year drinking density (PYDD) by number of independent stressful life events in the past year and age of drinking onset in (A) females and (B) males. Expected values of PYDD are based on group means on demographic characteristics and estimates from Table 3. Only stressful life events of at least high-moderate severity were included.
| Name | Type |
|---|---|
| adolescents | cohort |
| adverse childhood experiences | phenotype |
| age | phenotype |
| age at initiation | phenotype |
| aggressiveness | phenotype |
| alcohol | phenotype |
| alcohol abuse | phenotype |
| alcohol dependence | phenotype |
| Alcohol Use | phenotype |
| Alcohol Use Disorder | phenotype |
| alcohol use disorders | phenotype |
| antisocial personality disorder | phenotype |
| average daily drinking local | phenotype |
| being male local | phenotype |
| blue-collar family background local | phenotype |
| Caucasian twins local | cohort |
| Caucasian twins (Virginia) local | cohort |
| Change in living situation local | phenotype |
| Change in work hours or responsibilities local | phenotype |
| conduct disorder | phenotype |
| coping | phenotype |
| coping style local | phenotype |
| current age | phenotype |
| Current marital status local | phenotype |
| Dawson 2007 study local | cohort |
| Dawson et al. 2007 local | cohort |
| Death of a family member or close friend local | phenotype |
| Death of an individual in the network local | phenotype |
| death of a parent local | phenotype |
| Death of a parent local | phenotype |
| delinquent, norm-violating behaviors local | phenotype |
| Dependent events local | phenotype |
| Dependent Events local | phenotype |
| Dependent life events local | phenotype |
| Dependent stressful events local | phenotype |
| dependent stressful life event local | phenotype |
| dependent Stressful Life Events local | phenotype |
| depression | phenotype |
| deviant behavior | phenotype |
| drinking | phenotype |
| Drinking density local | phenotype |
| drinking-induced events local | phenotype |
| drinking motives | phenotype |
| drinking_onset local | phenotype |
| Drinking onset ≤17 local | phenotype |
| drinking onset age local | phenotype |
| Drinking onset before age 15 local | phenotype |
| drinking-related injuries | phenotype |
| drinking to cope | phenotype |
| drinks per week | phenotype |
| drugs | drug |
| dSLE local | phenotype |
| Early alcohol exposure local | phenotype |
| early alcohol use | phenotype |
| Early drinking men local | phenotype |
| Early drinking women local | phenotype |
| Early initiators local | cohort |
| early onset | phenotype |
| Early onset drinkers local | cohort |
| Early-onset drinkers local | phenotype |
| early parental onset of substance use local | phenotype |
| early use of other substances local | phenotype |
| education | phenotype |
| educational attainment | phenotype |
| ethanol consumption | phenotype |
| event type local | phenotype |
| externalizing disorders | phenotype |
| familial history of alcoholism local | phenotype |
| Familial history of alcoholism local | phenotype |
| Familial history of problematic substance use local | phenotype |
| family history of alcohol local | phenotype |
| family history of alcoholism | phenotype |
| family history of alcohol use disorders local | phenotype |
| FF4 | anatomy |
| fighting | phenotype |
| greater drinking local | phenotype |
| high past-year drinking local | phenotype |
| hyperactivity | phenotype |
| illicit drug use | phenotype |
| Illness of a family member or close friend local | phenotype |
| Immediate social network events local | phenotype |
| inattention | phenotype |
| income | phenotype |
| Independent events local | phenotype |
| Independent Events local | phenotype |
| Independent life events local | phenotype |
| Independent stressful events local | phenotype |
| independent stressful life event local | phenotype |
| interpersonal conflict | phenotype |
| interpersonal Stressful Life Events local | phenotype |
| iSLE local | phenotype |
| job loss | phenotype |
| Late onset drinkers local | cohort |
| Late-onset drinkers local | cohort |
| Late-onset drinkers local | phenotype |
| Later drinking onset men local | phenotype |
| legal problems | phenotype |
| Long-term Contextual Threat rating local | phenotype |
| Loss of confidant local | phenotype |
| low academic orientation local | phenotype |
| Low income | phenotype |
| low parental control local | phenotype |
| low prosociality local | phenotype |
| low self-control local | phenotype |
| Major financial problems local | phenotype |
| marital status | phenotype |
| men | cohort |
| MF2 local | cohort |
| Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry local | cohort |
| middle drinking onset local | phenotype |
| middle onset local | phenotype |
| Middle-onset drinkers local | phenotype |
| mood-related drinking motives | phenotype |
| National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Condition (NESARC) local | cohort |
| National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey | cohort |
| negative affect | phenotype |
| Negative alcohol-related outcomes local | phenotype |
| negative consequences of deviant behaviors local | phenotype |
| negative mood | phenotype |
| NESARC | cohort |
| novelty seeking | phenotype |
| older drinking onset local | phenotype |
| older onset local | phenotype |
| ONS14 local | phenotype |
| ONS17 local | phenotype |
| onset | phenotype |
| onset age local | phenotype |
| Onset age local | phenotype |
| oppositionality | phenotype |
| other substances | phenotype |
| parental alcohol use | phenotype |
| parental divorce/separation | phenotype |
| parenting style low involvement and physical punishment local | phenotype |
| participants | cohort |
| past-year abstainers local | phenotype |
| past-year drinking | phenotype |
| past-year drinking density local | phenotype |
| Past-year drinking density local | phenotype |
| Past-year stress-related drinking local | phenotype |
| physical abuse | phenotype |
| physiological signs of poor inhibition local | phenotype |
| poor relationship between parents local | phenotype |
| presence of alcoholic adult siblings local | phenotype |
| prior drug use local | phenotype |
| problematic alcohol use | phenotype |
| problems getting along with a neighbor local | phenotype |
| psychological distress | phenotype |
| regular and pathological alcohol consumption local | phenotype |
| risk-taking behavior | phenotype |
| robbery | phenotype |
| Serious difficulties at work local | phenotype |
| Serious housing problems local | phenotype |
| Serious illness of someone in the network local | phenotype |
| Serious illness or injury local | phenotype |
| Serious marital problems local | phenotype |
| Serious personal crisis experienced by someone in the network local | phenotype |
| serious personal crisis of a sibling local | phenotype |
| sex | phenotype |
| SLE | phenotype |
| SLE exposure local | phenotype |
| SLEs local | phenotype |
| SLE x drinking onset interaction local | phenotype |
| stress | phenotype |
| stressful life events | phenotype |
| stressor local | phenotype |
| stressors | phenotype |
| stress-reactive drinking | phenotype |
| stress-related drinking local | phenotype |
| Stress-related drinking behaviors local | phenotype |
| stress response | phenotype |
| substance use | phenotype |
| systemic lupus erythematosus | phenotype |
| total Stressful Life Events local | phenotype |
| tot-SLE local | phenotype |
| totSLE local | phenotype |
| Transition time to alcohol dependence local | phenotype |
| Twin cohort | cohort |
| unprotected sex | phenotype |
| VATSPSUD | cohort |
| Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders local | cohort |
| Virginia Twin Registry | cohort |
| women | cohort |
| years of education | phenotype |
| young drinking onset local | phenotype |
| youngest onset group local | cohort |
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| Shared genetic contributions to early-onset drinking and drinking to cope motives. | Young-Wolff KC et al. | — | 2012 | → |