title: Admission of drug-selling behaviors is structured by genetic and nonshared environmental factors: results from a longitudinal twin-based study.
abstract: Behavioral genetic research has consistently revealed that approximately one-half of the variance in antisocial behaviors is attributable to genetic factors. Even so, there is some reason to believe that different types of antisocial behaviors may have different developmental etiologies. The current study used this possibility as a springboard to examine the genetic and environmental influences on admission of drug-selling behaviors. Analysis of twin pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health revealed that 38% of the variance in a continuously coded drug-selling variable was accounted for by genetic factors and 69% of the variance in a dichotomously coded drug-selling variable was the result of genetic factors. The remaining variance for both measures was explained by nonshared environmental factors. The implications that these results have for drug research are discussed and avenues for future research are offered.
authors.affiliation: College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Hecht House, 634 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1127, USA. kbeaver@fsu.edu
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Beaver
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Barnes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003132:Commerce; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012931:Social Environment; D014427:Twins / Q000235:genetics*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013287:Illicit Drugs