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Exploring the inter-relationship of smoking age-at-onset, cigarette consumption and smoking persistence: genes or environment?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2007

KATHERINE I. MORLEY ,
MICHAEL T. LYNSKEY ,
PAMELA A. F. MADDEN ,
SUSAN A. TRELOAR ,
ANDREW C. HEATH  and
NICHOLAS G. MARTIN
KATHERINE I. MORLEY*
Affiliation:
Genetic Epidemiology Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland, Australia School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
MICHAEL T. LYNSKEY
Affiliation:
Genetic Epidemiology Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland, Australia Department of Psychiatry, Washington University St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
PAMELA A. F. MADDEN
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
SUSAN A. TRELOAR
Affiliation:
Genetic Epidemiology Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland, Australia
ANDREW C. HEATH
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA
NICHOLAS G. MARTIN
Affiliation:
Genetic Epidemiology Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Queensland, Australia
*
*Address for correspondence: Ms Katherine Morley, Genetic Epidemiology Group, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, PO Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

We investigated the genetic and environmental contributions to covariation between smoking age-at-onset, cigarette consumption and smoking persistence.

Method

Multivariate biometrical modelling methods were applied to questionnaire data from Australian twins and their siblings (14 472 individuals from 6247 families). The contributions of genetic and environmental factors to covariation between the three traits were estimated, allowing for sex differences in both trait prevalence and the magnitude of genetic and environmental effects.

Results

All traits were moderately heritable in males and females (estimates between 0·40 and 0·62), but there were sex differences in the extent to which additive genetic influences were shared across traits. Twin-specific environmental factors accounted for a substantial proportion of the variance in smoking age-at-onset in females (0·19) and males (0·12), but had little influence (<0·08) on other traits. Unique environmental factors were estimated to have a moderate influence on smoking age-at-onset (0·17 for females, 0·19 for males), but a stronger influence on other traits (between 0·39 and 0·49).

Conclusions

These results provide some insight into observed sex differences in smoking behaviour, and suggest that searching for pleiotropic genes may prove fruitful. However, further work on phenotypic definitions of smoking behaviour, particularly persistence, is warranted.

Type
Original Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 37 , Issue 9 , September 2007 , pp. 1357 - 1367
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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