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Triparental Families: A New Genetic-Epidemiological Design Applied to Drug Abuse, Alcohol Use Disorders, and Criminal Behavior in a Swedish National Sample.

Kendler, Ken LU ; Ohlsson, Henrik LU ; Sundquist, Jan LU and Sundquist, Kristina LU (2015) In American Journal of Psychiatry 172(6). p.553-560
Abstract
Objective: The authors sought to clarify the sources of parent-offspring resemblance for drug abuse, alcohol use disorders, and criminal behavior, using a novel genetic-epidemiological design. Method: Using national registries, the authors identified rates of drug abuse, alcohol use disorders, and criminal behavior in 41,360 Swedish individuals born between 1960 and 1990 and raised in triparental families comprising a biological mother who reared them, a "not-lived-with" biological father, and a stepfather. Results: When each syndrome was examined individually, hazard rates for drug abuse in offspring of parents with drug abuse were highest for mothers (2.80, 95% CI=2.23-3.38), intermediate for not-lived-with fathers (2.45, 95%... (More)
Objective: The authors sought to clarify the sources of parent-offspring resemblance for drug abuse, alcohol use disorders, and criminal behavior, using a novel genetic-epidemiological design. Method: Using national registries, the authors identified rates of drug abuse, alcohol use disorders, and criminal behavior in 41,360 Swedish individuals born between 1960 and 1990 and raised in triparental families comprising a biological mother who reared them, a "not-lived-with" biological father, and a stepfather. Results: When each syndrome was examined individually, hazard rates for drug abuse in offspring of parents with drug abuse were highest for mothers (2.80, 95% CI=2.23-3.38), intermediate for not-lived-with fathers (2.45, 95% CI=2.14-2.79), and lowest for stepfathers (1.99, 95% CI=1.55-2.56). The same pattern was seen for alcohol use disorders (2.23, 95% CI=1.93-2.58; 1.84, 95% CI=1.69-2.00; and 1.27, 95% CI=1.12-1.43) and criminal behavior (1.55, 95% CI=1.44-1.66; 1.46, 95% CI=1.40-1.52; and 1.30, 95% CI=1.23-1.37). When all three syndromes were examined together, specificity of cross-generational transmission was highest for mothers, intermediate for not-lived-with fathers, and lowest for stepfathers. Analyses of intact families and other not-lived-with parents and stepparents showed similar cross-generation transmission for these syndromes in mothers and fathers, supporting the representativeness of results from triparental families. Conclusions: A major strength of the triparental design is its inclusion, within a single family, of parents who provide, to a first approximation, their offspring with genes plus rearing, genes only, and rearing only. For drug abuse, alcohol use disorders, and criminal behavior, the results of this study suggest that parent-offspring transmission involves both genetic and environmental processes, with genetic factors being somewhat more important. These results should be interpreted in the context of the strengths and limitations of national registry data. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
American Journal of Psychiatry
volume
172
issue
6
pages
553 - 560
publisher
American Psychiatric Association
external identifiers
  • pmid:25698436
  • wos:000355642800011
  • scopus:84964696814
  • pmid:25698436
ISSN
1535-7228
DOI
10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14091127
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
930f5d45-6710-4602-b500-9a4d5f4894d3 (old id 5143204)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25698436?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:58:58
date last changed
2022-02-10 07:51:47
@article{930f5d45-6710-4602-b500-9a4d5f4894d3,
  abstract     = {{Objective: The authors sought to clarify the sources of parent-offspring resemblance for drug abuse, alcohol use disorders, and criminal behavior, using a novel genetic-epidemiological design. Method: Using national registries, the authors identified rates of drug abuse, alcohol use disorders, and criminal behavior in 41,360 Swedish individuals born between 1960 and 1990 and raised in triparental families comprising a biological mother who reared them, a "not-lived-with" biological father, and a stepfather. Results: When each syndrome was examined individually, hazard rates for drug abuse in offspring of parents with drug abuse were highest for mothers (2.80, 95% CI=2.23-3.38), intermediate for not-lived-with fathers (2.45, 95% CI=2.14-2.79), and lowest for stepfathers (1.99, 95% CI=1.55-2.56). The same pattern was seen for alcohol use disorders (2.23, 95% CI=1.93-2.58; 1.84, 95% CI=1.69-2.00; and 1.27, 95% CI=1.12-1.43) and criminal behavior (1.55, 95% CI=1.44-1.66; 1.46, 95% CI=1.40-1.52; and 1.30, 95% CI=1.23-1.37). When all three syndromes were examined together, specificity of cross-generational transmission was highest for mothers, intermediate for not-lived-with fathers, and lowest for stepfathers. Analyses of intact families and other not-lived-with parents and stepparents showed similar cross-generation transmission for these syndromes in mothers and fathers, supporting the representativeness of results from triparental families. Conclusions: A major strength of the triparental design is its inclusion, within a single family, of parents who provide, to a first approximation, their offspring with genes plus rearing, genes only, and rearing only. For drug abuse, alcohol use disorders, and criminal behavior, the results of this study suggest that parent-offspring transmission involves both genetic and environmental processes, with genetic factors being somewhat more important. These results should be interpreted in the context of the strengths and limitations of national registry data.}},
  author       = {{Kendler, Ken and Ohlsson, Henrik and Sundquist, Jan and Sundquist, Kristina}},
  issn         = {{1535-7228}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  pages        = {{553--560}},
  publisher    = {{American Psychiatric Association}},
  series       = {{American Journal of Psychiatry}},
  title        = {{Triparental Families: A New Genetic-Epidemiological Design Applied to Drug Abuse, Alcohol Use Disorders, and Criminal Behavior in a Swedish National Sample.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14091127}},
  doi          = {{10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14091127}},
  volume       = {{172}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}