The Speed of Progression to Tobacco and Alcohol Dependence: A Twin Study

• Published in: Behavior genetics Vol. 48; no. 2; pp. 109 - 124
• Main Authors: Huggett, Spencer B., Hatoum, Alexander S., Hewitt, John K., Stallings, Michael C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Age Factors; Alcohol; Alcohol Drinking - genetics; Alcohol use; Alcoholism; Alcoholism - genetics; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Diseases in Twins - genetics; Drug dependence; Environmental aspects; Environmental factors; Female; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Health Psychology; Humans; Latency; Male; Monozygotic; Nicotiana; Original Research; Psychology; Public Health; Public policy; Risk Factors; Smoking - genetics; Substance-Related Disorders - genetics; Tobacco; Tobacco Use Disorder - genetics; Twin studies; Twins; Twins - genetics; Twins, Dizygotic - genetics; Twins, Monozygotic - genetics; Young Adult; Alcohol; Genetics; Tobacco; Twins; Age of initiation; Dependence
• ISSN: 0001-8244; 1573-3297
• DOI: 10.1007/s10519-018-9888-0

We investigated the etiological role of genetic and environmental influences for two milestones of tobacco and alcohol use: age of initiation, and speed of progression to dependence (latency). Study participants included 1352 monozygotic and 1422 dizygotic twins (mean age at assessment = 24.31). Earlier ages of initiation significantly increased the likelihood of developing dependence, but were associated with longer dependence latencies for tobacco and alcohol. Latencies to dependence were heritable traits for tobacco ( a 2  = 0.63) and alcohol ( a 2  = 0.64). Genetic influences contributing to early age of initiation were associated with faster latencies to dependence but sometimes were counteracted by environmental factors, the extent to which depended on substance and, sometimes, sex. Our findings may have important implications for public policy and add to the literature by characterizing the genetic and environmental contributions to the speed of progression to tobacco and alcohol dependence.