Parent–Offspring Similarity for Drinking: A Longitudinal Adoption Study

Abstract

Parent-offspring resemblance for drinking was investigated in a sample of 409 adopted and 208 non-adopted families participating in the Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study (SIBS). Drinking data was available for 1229 offspring, assessed longitudinally up to three times in the age range from 10 to 28 years. A single drinking index was computed from four items measuring quantity, frequency and density of drinking. As expected, the mean drinking index increased with age, was greater in males as compared to females (although not at the younger ages), but did not vary significantly by adoption status. Parent-offspring correlation in drinking did not vary significantly by either offspring or parent gender but did differ significantly by adoption status. In adopted families, the parent-offspring correlation was statistically significant at all ages but decreased for the oldest age group (age 22–28). In non-adopted families, the parent-offspring correlation was statistically significant at all ages and increased in the oldest age group. Findings imply that genetic influences on drinking behavior increase with age while shared family environment influences decline, especially during the transition from late-adolescence to early adulthood.

Parent–Offspring Resemblance for Drinking Behaviors in a Longitudinal Twin Sample

“…This is consistent with previous findings from an MCTFR study of adopted adolescents that indicated that exposure to parental alcohol misuse represents an environmental risk factor for alcohol use, at least during adolescence (King et al, 2009). However, we have also found that parent-child resemblance for substance use disorders appears primarily due to genetic transmission (Hicks et al, 2013), and the importance of genetic factors on many behavioral phenotypes, including alcohol, increases from early to late adolescence (Bergen et al, 2007;McGue et al, 2014). Thus, both genetic and environmental contributors to alcohol dependence that are shared between parents and offspring may be particularly salient during late adolescence.…”

The predictive power of family history measures of alcohol and drug problems and internalizing disorders in a college population

“…Several studies have suggested that the impact of genetic factors on alcohol and nicotine intake and/or problems increase over the years of late adolescence and early adulthood [Koopmans et al, 1997; White et al, 2003; Malone et al, 2004; Kendler et al, 2008; McGue et al, 2014]. We explored whether we might see a similar effect utilizing our FH measures.…”

Testing the effects of adolescent alcohol use on adult conflict-related theta dynamics

“…Prior research offers strong support for the construct and psychometric validity of this composite index, including high internal consistency and expected parent-offspring correlations when assessed throughout adolescence (McGue et al, 2014). In addition, higher index scores have been associated with reduced prefrontal grey matter volume and neurocognitive performance in adolescents (Malone et al, 2014; Wilson et al, 2015), and diminished response inhibition-related theta-band MFC power and MFC-dPFC connectivity in young adults (Harper et al, 2016).…”