Social, behavioral, and genetic linkages from adolescence into adulthood.
The influence of genetic factors on health and behavior is conditioned by social, cultural, institutional, and physical environments in which individuals live, work, and play. We encourage studies supporting multilevel integrative approaches to understanding these contributions to health, and describe the Add Health study as an exemplar. Add Health is a large sample of US adolescents in grades 7 to 12 in 1994-1995 followed into adulthood with 4 in-home interviews and biomarker collections, including DNA. In addition to sampling multiple environments and measuring diverse social and health behavior, Add Health features a fully articulated behavioral genetic sample (3000 pairs) and ongoing genotyping of 12,000 archived samples. We illustrate approaches to understanding health through investigation of the interplay among biological, psychosocial, and physical, contextual, or cultural experiences.
Kathleen Mullan Harris is with the Department of Sociology, Carolina Population Center, and Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carolyn Tucker Halpern and Jon Hussey are with the Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Eric A. Whitsel is with the Departments of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, and Medicine, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ley Killeya-Jones and Joyce Tabor are with the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Glen Elder is with the Department of Sociology and Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. John Hewitt is with the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder. Michael Shanahan is with the Department of Sociology and Carolina Center for Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Redford Williams and Ilene Siegler are with Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC. Andrew Smolen is with the Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado at Boulder.
Kathleen Mullan
KM
Harris
Carolyn Tucker
CT
Halpern
Jon
J
Hussey
Eric A
EA
Whitsel
Ley
L
Killeya-Jones
Joyce
J
Tabor
Glen
G
Elder
John
J
Hewitt
Michael
M
Shanahan
Redford
R
Williams
Ilene
I
Siegler
Andrew
A
Smolen
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D001519:Behavior; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012931:Social Environment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult