title: Predictors of problem drinking in adolescence and young adulthood. A longitudinal twin-family study.
abstract: We examined drinking behavior of parents, siblings, and friends of twins as predictors of adolescent and young adult problem drinking over a period of 2 and a period of 7 years. Data of 12 to 30-year-old twins and their family members from the Netherlands Twin Register were analyzed. Problem drinking in twins was assessed in 1995 and 2000 and was defined based on the CAGE and amount of drinking. Data on alcohol use of parents, siblings and friends were collected in 1993. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to examine the short-term (1993-1995; n = 2,994) and the long-term longitudinal predictors (1993-2000; n = 1,796) of problem drinking. Age, sex and own alcohol use in 1993 explained 25% of the variance in adolescent and young adult problem drinking. Moreover, adolescents and young adults with fathers who drank frequently and with a large numbers of drinking friends, were at the highest risk for problem drinking 2 years later. Over a period of 7 years the number of drinking friends was no longer a risk factor, but few times a week or daily alcohol use of fathers remained a risk factor for later problem drinking. Drinking behavior of mother and siblings did not substantially predict problem drinking. Sex and age did not moderate these effects.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, P O Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. e.poelen@pwo.ru.nl
authors.forename: Evelien A P
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Poelen
authors.forename: Rutger C M E
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Engels
authors.forename: Ron H J
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Scholte
authors.forename: Dorret I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Boomsma
authors.forename: Gonneke
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Willemsen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005195:Family Relations; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D033062:Friends; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016015:Logistic Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014427:Twins; D055815:Young Adult