1. Genetic and shared environmental factors explain the association between adolescent polysubstance use and high school noncompletion.
- Author
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Davis CN, Gizer IR, Agrawal A, Statham DJ, Heath AC, Martin NG, and Slutske WS
- Subjects
- Adult, Humans, Female, Adolescent, Child, Male, Australia epidemiology, Risk Factors, Parents, Twins genetics, Depressive Disorder, Major
- Abstract
Objective: Examine the nature of the relationship between adolescent polysubstance use and high school noncompletion., Method: Among a sample of 9,579 adult Australian twins (58.63% female, M
age = 30.59), we examined the association between the number of substances used in adolescence and high school noncompletion within a discordant twin design and bivariate twin analysis., Results: In individual-level models controlling for parental education, conduct disorder symptoms, childhood major depression, sex, zygosity, and cohort, each additional substance used in adolescence was associated with a 30% increase in the odds of high school noncompletion ( OR = 1.30 [1.18, 1.42]). Discordant twin models found that the potentially causal effect of adolescent use on high school noncompletion was nonsignificant ( OR = 1.19 [0.96, 1.47]). Follow-up bivariate twin models suggested genetic (35.4%, 95% CI [24.5%, 48.7%]) and shared environmental influences (27.8%, 95% CI [12.7%, 35.1%]) each contributed to the covariation in adolescent polysubstance use and early school dropout., Conclusions: The association between polysubstance use and early school dropout was largely accounted for by genetic and shared environmental factors, with nonsignificant evidence for a potentially causal association. Future research should examine whether underlying shared risk factors reflect a general propensity for addiction, a broader externalizing liability, or a combination of the two. More evidence using finer measurement of substance use is needed to rule out a causal association between adolescent polysubstance use and high school noncompletion. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).- Published
- 2024
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