Adolescent Alcohol Abuse and Adverse Adult Outcomes: Evaluating Confounds with Drinking‐Discordant Twins

Abstract

Background Adolescent alcohol abuse is associated with adverse outcomes in early adulthood, but differences in familial status and structure and household and community environments correlate with both adolescent drinking and adverse adult outcomes and may explain their association. We studied drinking-discordant twin pairs to evaluate such confounds to ask: Will between-family associations replicate in within-family comparisons? Methods With longitudinal data from > 3,000 Finnish twins, we associated drinking problems at age 18½ with 13 outcomes assessed at age 25; included were sustained substance abuse, poor health, physical symptoms, early coital debut, multiple sexual partners, life dissatisfaction, truncated education, and financial problems. We assessed associations among twins as individuals with linear regression adjusted for correlated observations; within-family analyses of discordant twin pairs followed, comparing paired means for adult outcomes among co-twins discordant for adolescent problem drinking. Defining discordance by extreme scores on self-reported problem drinking at age 18½ permitted parallel analyses of twins as individuals and discordant twin pairs. Alternate definitions of pair-wise discordance and difference score correlations across the entire twin sample yielded supplementary analyses. Results All individual associations were highly significant for all definitions of discordance we employed. Depending on definitions of discordance, 11 to 13 comparisons of all drinking-discordant twin pairs and 3 to 6 comparisons of discordant monozygotic twin pairs replicated between-family associations. For most outcomes, effect size attenuated from individual level analysis to that within discordant MZ twin pairs providing evidence of partial confounding in associations reported in earlier research. The exception was the General Health Questionnaire; at age 25, GHQ-12 had equivalent associations with age 18½ RAPI across all comparisons. Conclusions Our analyses control for shared family background, and, partly or fully, for shared genes, to yield within-family replications and more compelling evidence than previously available that adolescent alcohol abuse disrupts transitions into early adulthood.

Adolescent binge alcohol exposure increases risk assessment behaviors in male Wistar rats after exposure to an acute psychological stressor in adulthood

“…While our data did not reveal a canonical anxiety-like phenotype in the young adult rats that had been previously exposed to binge alcohol as adolescents, we did observe increased risk assessment behaviors and HPA axis hypersensitivity among those rats. We believe this is reflective of the observation among human patients suggesting that a history of teenage binge drinking contributes to an increased risk for mood disorders (McCambridge et al, 2011; Rose et al, 2014; Viner and Taylor, 2007). Therefore, we will continue to utilize this animal model as a tool to study the molecular mechanisms by which adolescent alcohol exposure contributes to the development of psychiatric disease.…”

“…Teenagers who drink alcohol have region-specific cortical thinning and white matter disorganization (Luciana et al, 2013; Wilson et al, 2015). In addition to these anatomical changes, adolescent binge drinking increases the risk for developing alcohol dependence and other mental health disorders during adulthood (McCambridge et al, 2011; Rose et al, 2014; Viner and Taylor, 2007). …”

Risky drinking behaviors among women with eating disorders—A longitudinal community‐based study

“…The Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) and The Malmö‐modified Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (Mm‐MAST) were administered at waves 4 and 5. The RAPI is a 22‐item self‐screening questionnaire that assesses adolescent problem drinking and related negative consequences . The RAPI includes questions about dependence, withdrawal, blackouts, neglect of responsibilities, shame and/or embarrassment to self or others, and inappropriate behaviors.…”

Alcohol Consumption and Long‐Term Labor Market Outcomes

“…2–3 drinks per day have the highest earnings (French and Zarkin, ; Heien, ). Adolescent drinking is also negatively associated with adulthood earnings (Rose et al ., ; Sloan and Grossman, ).…”