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Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on May 30, 2007
Alcohol and Alcoholism, doi:10.1093/alcalc/agm042
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The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Medical Council on Alcohol.

Drinking By Parents, Siblings, And Friends As Predictors Of Regular Alcohol Use In Adolescents And Young Adults: A Longitudinal Twin-Family Study

Evelien A. P. Poelen1,*, Ron H. J. Scholte1, Gonneke Willemsen2, Dorret I. Boomsma2 and Rutger C. M. E. Engels1

1 Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands
2 Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands

* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed at: Behavioural Science Institute, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 24 361 57 67; Fax: +31 24 361 27 76; E-mail: e.poelen{at}pwo.ru.nl

Received 23 January 2007; first review notified 28 March 2007; in revised form 13 April 2007; accepted 18 April 2007


  Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to examine whether the drinking habits of parents, siblings, and friends were related to regular drinking in adolescents and young adults, cross-sectionally as well as longitudinally. Methods: Data of 12–30-year-old twins from the Netherlands Twin Register were analysed. Information on regular drinking was collected in 1993, 1995, and 2000. Logistic regression analyses were conducted on cross-sectional data of 1993 (N = 3760), short-term longitudinal data of 1993–95 (N = 2919), and the long-term longitudinal data of 1993–2000 (N = 1779). Results: Results show that age, sex, and one's own previous drinking habits were important predictors of later-life regular drinking. Drinking habits of parents showed small but persistent positive associations. Alcohol use of the co-twin was strongly related to alcohol use of the participants, especially in the cross-sectional analyses, while alcohol use of additional siblings other than the co-twin was relatively unimportant. Cross-sectionally, friends' alcohol use showed a high association with regular drinking, but this association decreased over time. Conclusion: Cross-sectional analyses showed that a substantial part (29%) of the variance in regular drinking habits of adolescents and young adults was explained by the drinking habits of family members and friends, in particular, by drinking of co-twins and friends. But, over time, drinking by family members and friends could only explain a relatively small part (4–5%) of the variance in adolescents' and young adults' alcohol use.


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