Early Onset Alcohol Use and Self-Harm: A Discordant Twin Analysis

Lauren R Few; Kimberly B Werner; Carolyn E Sartor; Julia D Grant; Timothy J Trull; Matthew K Nock; Kathleen K Bucholz; Sarah K Deitz; Anne L Glowinski; Nicholas G Martin; Elliot C Nelson; Dixie J Statham; Pamela A F Madden; Andrew C Heath; Michael T Lunskey; Arpana Agrawal

doi:10.1111/acer.12889

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Early Onset Alcohol Use and Self-Harm: A Discordant Twin Analysis

Journal article

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Early Onset Alcohol Use and Self-Harm: A Discordant Twin Analysis

Lauren R Few, Kimberly B Werner, Carolyn E Sartor, Julia D Grant, Timothy J Trull, Matthew K Nock, Kathleen K Bucholz, Sarah K Deitz, Anne L Glowinski, Nicholas G Martin, …

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, Vol.39(11), pp.2134-2142

2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.12889

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Abstract

early alcohol use

self-harm

Background: Self-harm has considerable societal and economic costs and has been extensively studied in relation to alcohol involvement. Although early onset alcohol use (EAU) has been causally linked to maladaptive clinical outcomes, its association with self-harm is less well characterized. This study aimed to further examine the link between EAU and both nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempt (SA), and elucidate shared familial and causal/individual-specific pathways that explain this co-occurrence. Methods: Using data from 6,082 Australian same-sex twin pairs (1,732 monozygotic [MZ] and 1,309 dizygotic [DZ]), ages 23 to 40, we examined prevalence rates of NSSI and SA among twin pairs concordant and discordant for EAU. Conditional logistic regression, controlling for early clinical covariates and the influence of zygosity on EAU, was used to examine the odds ratio (OR) of self-harm within twin pairs discordant for EAU. Results: Prevalence rates of both NSSI and SA were highest among twin pairs concordant for EAU and for twins who reported EAU within discordant twin pairs. Results from discordant twin analyses revealed nearly 4-fold increased odds of SA for the twin who endorsed EAU, and this OR was equal across MZ and DZ twins. EAU also was associated with elevated odds of NSSI (OR = 7.62), although this was only the case for DZ twins in discordant pairs. Conclusions: The equivalent increase in odds of SA for both MZ and DZ twins suggests that causal or individual-specific influences explain the link between EAU and SA. For NSSI, elevated odds for DZ twins and nonsignificant findings for MZ twins implicate correlated genetic factors in the association between EAU and NSSI. Future studies should test mechanisms through which EAU may causally influence SA, as well as examine whether genetic risk for third variables (e.g., negative urgency, stress reactivity) may explain the genetic overlap between EAU and NSSI.

Details

Title: Early Onset Alcohol Use and Self-Harm: A Discordant Twin Analysis
Authors: Lauren R Few (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Kimberly B Werner (Author) - Washington University, United States
Carolyn E Sartor (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Julia D Grant (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Timothy J Trull (Author) - University of Missouri, United States
Matthew K Nock (Author) - Harvard University, United States
Kathleen K Bucholz (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Sarah K Deitz (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Anne L Glowinski (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Nicholas G Martin (Author) - QIMR Medical Research Institute
Elliot C Nelson (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Dixie J Statham (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and Business
Pamela A F Madden (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Andrew C Heath (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Michael T Lunskey (Author) - Kings College London, United Kingdom
Arpana Agrawal (Author) - Washington University School of Medicine, United States
Publication details: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, Vol.39(11), pp.2134-2142
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc.
Date published: 2015
DOI: 10.1111/acer.12889
ISSN: 1530-0277
Copyright note: Copyright © 2015 The Authors. This is the accepted version of the following article: Few, L. R., Werner, K. B., Sartor, C. E., Grant, J. D., Trull, T. J., Nock, M. K., Bucholz, K. K., Deitz, S. K., Glowinski, A. L., Martin, N. G., Nelson, E. C., Statham, D. J., Madden, P. A. F., Heath, A. C., Lynskey, M. T. and Agrawal, A. (2015), Early Onset Alcohol Use and Self-Harm: A Discordant Twin Analysis. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 39: 2134-2142. doi:10.1111/acer.12889, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/acer.12889
Organisation Unit: School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99449278802621
Output Type: Journal article

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