Ma. Buster et Jl. Rodgers, Genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use: DF analysis of NLSY kinship data, J BIOSOC SC, 32(2), 2000, pp. 177-189
Research designs to study alcohol use and abuse have included twin, adoptio
n and family history/high risk studies. Results have consistently implied a
genetic factor in the aetiology of alcohol abuse. However, less research h
as been conducted in search of environmental factors. This study uses kinsh
ip structure in a large national dataset (the National :Longitudinal Survey
of Youth) to estimate (using DeFries-Fulker analysis) the extent of the sh
ared genetic, non-shared genetic, shared environmental and non-shared envir
onmental influences on alcohol use. The NLSY kinship sample contained 3890
pairs of cousins, half-siblings, full-siblings and twins between the ages o
f 14 and 21 in the initial year of the survey (1979). Estimates of heritabi
lity (h(2)) and shared environment (c(2)) were small to moderate for the en
tire dataset for both light drinking and heavy drinking behaviour, with h(2
) estimates slightly higher in each case. Non-shared genetic measures of se
lf-esteem and locus of control accounted for a significant portion of the r
emaining variance in heavy drinking behaviour. Race and gender patterns sho
wed c(2) and h(2) estimates that were also small to moderate for both light
and heavy drinking behaviour. Significant non-shared effects were found fo
r the White group for heavy drinking behaviour, and for male pairs for both
heavy and light drinking behaviour. Additionally, implications and future
directions are discussed.