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Measurement of the Risk for Substance Use Disorders: Phenotypic and Genetic Analysis of an Index of Common Liability

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An Erratum to this article was published on 02 August 2009

Abstract

The inability to quantify the risk for disorders, such as substance use disorders (SUD), hinders etiology research and development of targeted intervention. Based on the concept of common transmissible liability to SUD related to illicit drugs, a method enabling quantification of this latent trait has been developed, utilizing high-risk design and item response theory. This study examined properties of a SUD transmissible liability index (TLI) derived using this method. Sons of males with or without SUD were studied longitudinally from preadolescence to young adulthood. The properties of TLI, including its psychometric characteristics, longitudinal risk assessment and ethnic variation, were examined. A pilot twin study was conducted to analyze the composition of TLI’s phenotypic variance. The data suggest that TLI has concurrent, incremental, predictive and discriminant validity, as well as ethnic differences. The data suggest a high heritability of the index in males. The results suggest applicability of the method for genetic and other etiology-related research, and for evaluation of individual risk.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are indebted to the staff of the Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research, University of Pittsburgh, for their effort and dedication. This study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse grants P50DA005605, R01DA011922, R01DA019157, K02DA018701, K02DA017822, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism grant K02AA00296

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Author notes

  1. Lisa Moss

    Present address: Department of Ob/Gyn, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Education and Drug Abuse Research (CEDAR), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, 711 Salk Hall, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Michael M. Vanyukov, Levent Kirisci, Ralph E. Tarter, Maureen D. Reynolds, Galina P. Kirillova, Ty Ridenour & Duncan B. Clark

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA

    Michael M. Vanyukov, Levent Kirisci, Ralph E. Tarter & Duncan B. Clark

  3. Department of Human Genetics, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA, 15261, USA

    Michael M. Vanyukov & Lisa Moss

  4. Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23219, USA

    Brion S. Maher

Authors
  1. Michael M. Vanyukov
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  2. Levent Kirisci
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  7. Galina P. Kirillova
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  9. Duncan B. Clark
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael M. Vanyukov.

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Handling editor: Michael Joseph Lyons.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10519-009-9292-x

Appendix

Appendix

See Table 5.

Table 5 Liability index items
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Vanyukov, M.M., Kirisci, L., Moss, L. et al. Measurement of the Risk for Substance Use Disorders: Phenotypic and Genetic Analysis of an Index of Common Liability. Behav Genet 39, 233–244 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-009-9269-9

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