title: Life events, genetic susceptibility, and smoking among adolescents.
abstract: Although stressful life events during adolescence are associated with the adoption of unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, both social circumstances and physical traits can moderate the relationship. This study builds on the stress paradigm and gene-environment approach to social behavior by examining how a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene 5-HTTLPR moderates the effect of life events on adolescent smoking. Tests of interaction hypotheses use data from the Family Transitions Project, a longitudinal study of 7th graders followed for 5years. A sibling-pair design with separate models for the gender composition of pairs (brothers, sisters, or brother/sister) controls for unmeasured family background. The results show that negative life events are significantly and positively associated with smoking. Among brother pairs but not other pairs, the results provide evidence of gene-environment interaction by showing that life events more strongly influence smoking behavior for those with more copies of the 5-HTTLPR S allele.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, United States. Electronic address: fred.pampel@colorado.edu.
authors.forename: Fred C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Pampel
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder, United States.
authors.forename: Jason D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Boardman
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Pennsylvania State University, United States.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Daw
authors.affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, United States.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Stallings
authors.affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, United States.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smolen
authors.affiliation: Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado Boulder, United States.
authors.forename: Brett C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Haberstick
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of California Davis, United States.
authors.forename: Keith F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Widaman
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University, United States.
authors.forename: Tricia K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Neppl
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Ecology, University of California Davis, United States.
authors.forename: Rand D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Conger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000483:Alleles; D004777:Environment; D044127:Epigenesis, Genetic; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D035781:Siblings; D012907:Smoking / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D012931:Social Environment; D013315:Stress, Psychological
chemical_list: C493230:SLC6A4 protein, human; D050486:Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins
keywords: 5-HTTLPR; Adolescent smoking; Gene–environment interaction; Negative life events; Stress