Can Genetics Affect Alcohol Use in Teens?
While the risk for teens to drink or binge with alcohol, or use drugs, are influenced by environment, new research suggests that genetics play an increasing role in these choices as someone gets older.
Researchers have been following a group of 476 pairs of twins (both identical and fraternal) to look at the role that genetics and environment play in substance abuse. They focused on the time between early adolescence (age 13) and late adolescence (age 17), a period of time in which substance abuse generally begins.
The study was published in the journal Psychological Medicine.
