Research ReportAlcohol Consumption Indices of Genetic Risk for Alcohol Dependence
Section snippets
Samples
We make use of data from a young adult Australian twin cohort (3) for genetic analyses and from spouses (32) of a second older twin sample (32, 33) for corroboration of factor analyses and test–retest reliability assessments.
Australian Young Adult Twin Panel (1989 Cohort)
Twin pairs for this volunteer sample were born 1964–1971, were identified in 1980–1982 through mass-media appeals and school systems, were raised together, and included a broad-spectrum of sociodemographic groups (34). As described elsewhere (3, 34), twins were not assessed
Sample Characteristics
As shown in Table 1, the young adult Australian twin cohort is characterized by near universal alcohol use and a high prevalence of heavy drinking and of DSM-IV alcohol dependence and abuse.
Alcohol Consumption Factor Score
For the twin sample, a single factor model adequately accounted for the covariation among the consumption measures, based on eigenvalues and scree plots. All five items had substantial factor loadings, with loadings of similar magnitude in the young adult twin cohort (.69–.92 for women; .68–.93 for men) and
Discussion
Using data from a general community twin sample, we have shown that a composite alcohol factor score is highly reliable (see also Agrawal et al. [39]), moderately heritable (50%), and has a high genetic correlation with AD symptomatology (rG = .97), indicating that genetic influences on dependence risk and consumption overlap considerably in the general population. We previously noted a smaller genetic association with confidence intervals (CIs) that excluded unity (rG = .63, CI: .53–.72) (29).
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