Dr. Danielle Dick and her colleagues used data collected on about 5,000 twins born in Finland from 1983 to 1987. They were looking for how genetic and environmental factors influence the development of alcohol use among people aged 12 to 14 years old.
Children with certain behavioral problems, and who lived in certain neighborhoods, were more likely to develop alcohol problems.
"There is now converging evidence across a number of different studies that behavioral problems in kids are associated with both concurrent and future alcohol problems," Dr. Dick said. "A key finding is that we are not all equally predisposed to develop alcohol or behavioral problems, and the environment can be a key factor in whether or not an individual ever develops problems."
This study appeared in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
Labels: alcoholism, research
Posted By: Aspen/CRC