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Cited by 32Smoking Behavior and CessationGenetic Associations and EpidemiologySubstance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

A Genetic Epidemiological Mega Analysis of Smoking Initiation in Adolescents

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Maes, Hermine H., Prom-Wormley, Elizabeth, Eaves, Lindon J., Rhee, Soo Hyun, Hewitt, John K., Young, Susan, Corley, Robin, McGue, Matt +18 more·2016·Nicotine & Tobacco Research
DOI 10.1093/ntr/ntw294PMC PMC5896552
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Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Previous studies in adolescents were not adequately powered to accurately disentangle genetic and environmental influences on smoking initiation (SI) across adolescence. METHODS: Mega-analysis of pooled genetically informative data on SI was performed, with structural equation modeling, to test equality of prevalence and correlations across cultural backgrounds, and to estimate the significance and effect size of genetic and environmental effects according to the classical twin study, in adolescent male and female twins from same-sex and opposite-sex twin pairs (N = 19 313 pairs) between ages 10 and 19, with 76 358 longitudinal assessments between 1983 and 2007, from 11 population-based twin samples from the United States, Europe, and Australia. RESULTS: Although prevalences differed between samples, twin correlations did not, suggesting similar etiology of SI across developed countries. The estimate of additive genetic contributions to liability of SI increased from approximately 15% to 45% from ages 13 to 19. Correspondingly, shared environmental factors accounted for a substantial proportion of variance in liability to SI at age 13 (70%) and gradually less by age 19 (40%). CONCLUSIONS: Both additive genetic and shared environmental factors significantly contribute to variance in SI throughout adolescence. The present study, the largest genetic epidemiological study on SI to date, found consistent results across 11 studies for the etiology of SI. Environmental factors, especially those shared by siblings in a family, primarily influence SI variance in early adolescence, while an increasing role of genetic factors is seen at later ages, which has important implications for prevention strategies. IMPLICATIONS: This is the first study to find evidence of genetic factors in liability to SI at ages as young as 12. It also shows the strongest evidence to date for decay of effects of the shared environment from early adolescence to young adulthood. We found remarkable consistency of twin correlations across studies reflecting similar etiology of liability to initiate smoking across different cultures and time periods. Thus familial factors strongly contribute to individual differences in who starts to smoke with a gradual increase in the impact of genetic factors and a corresponding decrease in that of the shared environment.

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  • Twin studies have indicated effects of the common environment on many phenotypes for which shrinkage was observed, such as educational attainment, cognitive ability and smoking, potentially consistent with indirect genetic effects of parents.

    “Notably, twin studies have indicated effects of the common environment on many of the phenotypes for which we observed shrinkage, such as educational attainment44, cognitive ability45 and smoking46, potentially consistent with indirect genetic effects of parents.”

    From Within-sibship genome-wide association analyses decrease bias in estimates of direct genetic effects (2022) · cites this paper as [46]

  • Twin studies do not find strong evidence for common environmental effects on height, where shrinkage is more likely to be a consequence of assortative mating.

    “In contrast, twin studies do not find strong evidence for common environmental effects on height, where shrinkage is more likely to be a consequence of assortative mating10,46,47.”

    From Within-sibship genome-wide association analyses decrease bias in estimates of direct genetic effects (2022) · cites this paper as [46]

    The Discussion (page not provided) addresses shared environmental effects and assortative mating for adolescent smoking initiation, not height. Searches for height, shrinkage, and assortative mating found no passage assessing whether twin studies find common environmental effects on height or attributing shrinkage to assortative mating. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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Authors
Maes, H. H., Prom-Wormley, E., Eaves, L. J., Rhee, S. H., Hewitt, J. K., Young, S., Corley, R., McGue, M., Iacono, W. G., Legrand, L., Samek, D. R., Murrelle, E. L., Silberg, J. L., Miles, D. R., Schieken, R. M., Beunen, G. P., Thomis, M., Rose, R. J., Dick, D. M., Boomsma, D. I., Bartels, M., Vink, J. M., Lichtenstein, P., White, V., Kaprio, J., & Neale, M. C.
Affiliations
  • Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
  • University of Colorado Boulder (US)
  • University of Minnesota (US)
  • Venebio (United States) (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • KU Leuven (BE)
  • Indiana University Bloomington (US)
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
  • Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
  • Karolinska Institutet (SE)
  • Cancer Council Victoria (AU)
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
ORCID
Venue
Nicotine & Tobacco Research
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2016-11-02
Volume
19
Issue
4
Pages
ntw294
ISSN
  • 1462-2203 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-994X
DOI
10.1093/ntr/ntw294
PMC
PMC5896552
OpenAlex
W2548602941
Cited by
32
References
3
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 1
FWCI
0.55
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nicotine & Tobacco Research (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Lirias (submittedVersion)
  • Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion)
  • STM:n Hallinnonalan avoin julkaisuarkisto (Julkari) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • UNC Libraries
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (DA025109, DA024304, DA018673, P01-HD31921)
  • ZonMw (912-10-020, 31160008)
  • National Health and Medical Research Council
  • Victorian Health Promotion Foundation
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Smoking Behavior and Cessation
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
Keywords
smoking initiation, adolescents, twin studies, heritability, additive genetic effects, shared environment, family influence, cross-cultural consistency, smoking prevention
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Australia, Child, Europe, Female, Humans, Male, Smoking, Twins, United States, Twin Studies as Topic, Young Adult

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