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Childhood language development and later alcohol use behaviors
- Source :
- Drug Alcohol Depend
- Publication Year :
- 2018
-
Abstract
- Background Studies have shown a correlation between language abilities and alcohol use; however, results are inconsistent. A recent study using a discordant twin design showed an association between early child language development and later alcohol use behaviors; i.e., the twin with more advanced language abilities was more likely to try alcohol earlier in adolescence (Latvala et al., 2014). The authors suggested that this could result from better socialization of individuals with greater language abilities, which could lead to more opportunities for alcohol experimentation. The findings by Latvala et al. raise interesting questions, but the study has limitations, and replication is needed. Method We aimed to replicate and build upon these results utilizing 488 same sex twin pairs from the Colorado Longitudinal Twin Study, a longitudinal sample with quantitative measures of language abilities starting when the twins were 14 months old. Results We found no significant correlations between a latent measure of child language abilities or measures of general cognitive ability at ages 14, 20, and 24 months and a latent alcohol use variable at ages 17 and 22 years. Conclusion Our results did not replicate the association between early language ability and later alcohol use reported by Latvala et al. Possible reasons for differing results across samples, including varying cultural norms as well as differences in educational attainment, peer influences, and novelty seeking, were discussed.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Colorado
Adolescent
Alcohol Drinking
Twins
Poison control
Toxicology
Article
Developmental psychology
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Pregnancy
Humans
Pharmacology (medical)
030212 general & internal medicine
Longitudinal Studies
Child
Behavioural genetics
Pharmacology
Discordant Twin
Socialization
Novelty seeking
Infant
Twin study
Educational attainment
Psychiatry and Mental health
Language development
Female
Psychology
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Child Language
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18790046
- Volume :
- 198
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Drug and alcohol dependence
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....f93dec538c5b6b8f2857e05067fd16a8