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Identifying childhood characteristics that underlie premorbid risk for substance use disorders: Socialization and boldness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 November 2013

Brian M. Hicks ,
William G. Iacono  and
Matt McGue
Brian M. Hicks*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
William G. Iacono
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Matt McGue
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Brian M. Hicks, Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, 4250 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48109; E-mail: brianhic@umich.edu.
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Abstract

We utilized a longitudinal twin study (N = 2,510) to identify the child characteristics present prior to initiation of substance use that best predicted later substance use disorders. Two independent traits accounted for the majority of premorbid risk: socialization (conformity to rules and conventional values) and boldness (sociability and social assurance, stress resilience, and thrill seeking). Low socialization was associated with disruptive behavior disorders, parental externalizing disorders, and environmental adversity and exhibited moderate genetic (0.45) and shared environmental influences (0.30). Boldness was highly heritable (0.71) and associated with less internalizing distress and environmental adversity. In combination, these traits exhibited robust associations with adolescent and young adult substance use disorders (R = .48 and .50, respectively) and incremental prediction over disruptive behavior disorders, parental externalizing disorders, and environmental adversity. The results were replicated in an independent sample. Socialization and boldness offer a novel conceptualization of underlying risk for substance use disorders that has the potential to improve prediction and theory with implications for basic research, prevention, and intervention.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 141 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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