Citation
Daw, Jonathan K.; Shanahan, Michael J.; Harris, Kathleen Mullan; Smolen, Andrew; Haberstick, Brett C.; & Boardman, Jason D. (2013). Genetic Sensitivity to Peer Behaviors: 5HTTLPR, Smoking, and Alcohol Consumption. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 54(1), 92-108. PMCID: PMC3659161Abstract
We investigate whether the serotonin transporter–linked polymorphic region (5HTTLPR), a gene associated with environmental sensitivity, moderates the association between smoking and drinking patterns at adolescents’ schools and their corresponding risk for smoking and drinking themselves. Drawing on the school-based design of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in conjunction with molecular genetic data for roughly 15,000 respondents (including over 2,000 sibling pairs), we show that adolescents smoke more cigarettes and consume more alcohol when attending schools with elevated rates of tobacco and alcohol use. More important, an individual’s susceptibility to school-level patterns of smoking or drinking is conditional on the number of short alleles he or she has in 5HTTLPR. Overall, the findings demonstrate the utility of the differential susceptibility framework for medical sociology by suggesting that health behaviors reflect interactions between genetic factors and the prevalence of these behaviors in a person’s context.URL
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022146512468591Reference Type
Journal ArticleYear Published
2013Journal Title
Journal of Health and Social BehaviorAuthor(s)
Daw, Jonathan K.Shanahan, Michael J.
Harris, Kathleen Mullan
Smolen, Andrew
Haberstick, Brett C.
Boardman, Jason D.