The association of antisocial personality symptoms with marijuana abuse/dependence. A monozygotic co-twin control study.
This study examines the association of symptoms of lifetime antisocial personality disorder (ASP) with marijuana abuse/dependence in Vietnam-era veteran male monozygotic twin pairs. In 1992, 1,874 monozygotic twin pairs responded to a structured psychiatric interview that obtained data on lifetime history of drug use and ASP. Among randomly selected individuals from each twin pair, 8 of 10 ASP symptoms were significantly more prevalent in persons with a lifetime history of marijuana abuse/dependence compared with those who had never abused any drug (p < .001). Among 99 marijuana discordant twin pairs, however, only two ASP symptoms, "failure to conform to social norms" (odds ratio, 2.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.5 to 5.5) and "reckless regard of own or other's personal safety" (odds ratio, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.0 to 5.4) were significantly increased in marijuana abusing/dependent twins compared with their non-abusing/nondependent twin brother. After adjustment for conduct disorder, alcohol abuse/dependence, and exposure to combat in Vietnam, only "failure to conform to social norms of lawful behavior" (odds ratio, 2.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.12 to 5.21) remained significantly increased in twins with marijuana abuse/dependence.
School of Public Health, St. Louis University, Missouri, USA.
J F
JF
Scherrer
N
N
Lin
S A
SA
Eisen
J
J
Goldberg
W R
WR
True
M J
MJ
Lyons
M T
MT
Tsuang
D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015897:Comorbidity; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014430:Twins, Monozygotic; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology