Multiple Mechanisms Influencing the Relationship Between Alcohol Consumption and Peer Alcohol Use

Abstract

Background Alcohol consumption is typically correlated with the alcohol use behaviors of one’s peers. Previous research has suggested that this positive relationship could be due to social selection, social influence, or a combination of both processes. However, few studies have considered the role of shared genetic and environmental influences in conjunction with causal processes. Methods The current study uses data from a sample of male twins (N=1790) who provided retrospective reports of their own alcohol consumption and their peers’ alcohol related behaviors, from adolescence into young adulthood (ages 12–25). Structural equation modeling was employed to compare three plausible models of genetic and environmental influences on the relationship between phenotypes over time. Results Model fitting indicated that one’s own alcohol consumption and the alcohol use of one’s peers are related through both genetic and shared environmental factors and through unique environmental causal influences. The relative magnitude of these factors, and their contribution to covariation, changed over time, with genetic factors becoming more meaningful later in development. Conclusions Peers’ alcohol use behaviors and one’s own alcohol consumption are related through a complex combination of genetic and environmental factors that act via correlated factors and the complementary causal mechanisms of social selection and influence. Understanding these processes can inform risk assessment as well as improve our ability to model the development of alcohol use.

Developmental Etiologies of Alcohol Use and Their Relations to Parent and Peer Influences Over Adolescence and Young Adulthood: A Genetically Informed Approach

“…The better model fit indices for factor, rather than item correlations indicated that friend drinking as a measured outcome may contribute to a substantial part of the general variance attributed to either common or unique environment for drinking. The association between genetic variance and friend use is also supported by previous literature documenting gene-environment correlations or interactions (Edwards et al, 2015; Harden et al, 2008). However, these associations stopped after late adolescence.…”

Sweetened ethanol drinking during social isolation: enhanced intake, resistance to genetic heterogeneity and the emergence of a distinctive drinking pattern in adolescent mice

“…Work in humans suggests that genetic contributions to alcohol abuse may be considerably stronger during adulthood compared to adolescence (van Beek et al ., 2012, Edwards et al ., 2015; also see Chorlian et al ., 2013; Guo et al ., 2015). Indeed, adolescent B6 mice voluntarily drink more ethanol than adults, an ontogenetic difference not observed in mice from the DBA/2J strain (Moore et al ., 2010).…”

Exploring the relationship between polygenic risk for cannabis use, peer cannabis use and the longitudinal course of cannabis involvement

“…That study also found that approximately 50-78% of the genetic variance in peer group deviance was attributable to genetic factors related to cannabis use [27][28][29]. Another study [30] reported that the heritability of perceived peer alcohol use ranged from 7% at age 12-14 to 38% by age 18, and that the relationship between peer alcohol use and one's own alcohol use was attributable to genetic factors with a correlation of 0.83. Taken together, these observations raise the possibility that polygenic risk for cannabis use may interface with peer cannabis use in several possible ways, ranging from a main effect to a potential interactive effect.…”

“…While peer use is readily viewed as an 'environmental' agent of risk, it can also represent heritable aspects of underlying behavior, with at least one study suggesting a heritability of 25-28% for general peer group deviance, a broad measure including peer marijuana use [26]. Another study [30] reported that the heritability of perceived peer alcohol use ranged from 7% at age 12-14 to 38% by age 18, and that the relationship between peer alcohol use and one's own alcohol use was attributable to genetic factors with a correlation of 0.83. Another study [30] reported that the heritability of perceived peer alcohol use ranged from 7% at age 12-14 to 38% by age 18, and that the relationship between peer alcohol use and one's own alcohol use was attributable to genetic factors with a correlation of 0.83.…”