Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Nicotine-containing products (NCPs) such as electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) are increasingly common throughout the landscape of youth use of nicotine-containing products (NCP), and have overtaken traditional cigarette smoking modalities. This study seeks to examine the genetic and environmental influences on liability for susceptibility and initiation of ENDS and other NCPs among US children.
METHODS: Data were drawn from 886 monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs aged 9–10 years in the Adolescent Brain & Cognitive Development (ABCD) study at the baseline during 2016–2018. Heritability (h2) measured the proportion of the total phenotypic variation attributable to genes. Variance component models were utilized to analyze influences from the common environment (c2) and unique environmental factors (e2), taking into account correlations within twin pairs.
RESULTS: The national sample included 50% females, 69.5% of non-Hispanic Whites, 12.8% of non-Hispanic Blacks, and 11.6% of Hispanics, with a mean age of 121.5 months. The twin sets were 60% DZ and 40% MZ. Heritability was low for NCP susceptibility (h2=0) and moderate for NCP initiation (h2=39%, p=0.02). The variance associated with NCP susceptibility was primarily influenced by environmental factors, especially one’s unique factors (c2=37%, p<0.0001 vs e2=63%, p<0.0001). In contrast, the variance associated with NCP initiation was split across common and unique environmental factors (c2=32%, p=0.02 vs e2=29%, p=0.02).
CONCLUSIONS: In the era with ENDS use surging among youth, NCP initiation remains to be a heritable trait with joint influence from the environment. NCP susceptibility is largely influenced by environmental factors, especially unique environments. Continued assessment of gene x environment interaction can better inform future youth NCP interventions.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Tobacco Prevention and Cessation |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | November |
| Early online date | 30 Nov 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 30 Nov 2023 |
Data Availability Statement
This is a secondary data analysis of the ABCD study, which can be accessed via the National Data Archive (NDA).Funding
Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse under Award Number R21DA054818 (Dai). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or the Food and Drug Administration. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study was supported by the NIH and other federal partners under award numbers U01DA041048, U01DA050989, U01DA051016, U01DA041022, U01DA051018, U01DA051037, U01DA050987, U01DA041174, U01DA041106, U01DA041117, U01DA041028, U01DA041134, U01DA050988, U01DA051039, U01DA041156, U01DA041025, U01DA041120, U01DA051038, U01DA041148, U01DA041093, U01DA041089, U24DA041123, and U24DA041147. A full list of supporters is available at https://abcdstudy.org/federal-partners.html. A listing of participating sites and a complete listing of the study investigators can be found at https:// abcdstudy.org/consortium_members/. The ABCD consortium investigators designed and implemented the study and/or provided data but did not necessarily participate in analysis or writing of this manuscript. The funding agency had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Keywords
- ABCD study
- environmental factors
- genetic factors
- heritability
- nicotine-containing product use initiation
- nicotine-containing product use susceptibility
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Epidemiology
- Health(social science)
- Health Professions (miscellaneous)
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
