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Exposure to peer deviance during childhood and risk for drug abuse: a Swedish national co-relative control study.

Kendler, Ken LU ; Ohlsson, Henrik LU ; Mezuk, Briana LU ; Sundquist, Kristina LU and Sundquist, Jan LU (2015) In Psychological Medicine 45(4). p.855-864
Abstract
Background. Peer deviance (PD) is associated with risk for drug abuse (DA). Is this association causal? Method. DA was recorded in official records. PD was defined as the percentage of peers residing in small communities with future DA registrations. We examined offspring in families whose community PD changed when the offspring was 0-15 years of age and then examined families where cousins or siblings differed in their years of exposure to low or high PD communities. Results. The duration of exposure to PD was strongly associated with future DA. Co-relative analyses for families whose exposure to PD declined suggested that the PD-DA association was largely non-causal. Within full-sibling pairs in such families, the length of exposure to... (More)
Background. Peer deviance (PD) is associated with risk for drug abuse (DA). Is this association causal? Method. DA was recorded in official records. PD was defined as the percentage of peers residing in small communities with future DA registrations. We examined offspring in families whose community PD changed when the offspring was 0-15 years of age and then examined families where cousins or siblings differed in their years of exposure to low or high PD communities. Results. The duration of exposure to PD was strongly associated with future DA. Co-relative analyses for families whose exposure to PD declined suggested that the PD-DA association was largely non-causal. Within full-sibling pairs in such families, the length of exposure to low PD environments was unrelated to risk for DA. By contrast, co-relative analyses in families where exposure to PD increased over time indicated that the PD-DA association was largely causal. In such families, siblings who differed in the duration of their exposure to high PD differed in their risk for subsequent DA. These results were replicated in families whose PD changed because they moved or because of changes in the community in which they resided. Conclusions. Within families whose social environment is improving over time, the association between PD exposure and offspring DA outcomes is not causal but is due to familial confounding. Within families whose social environment is deteriorating, the PD-DA association seems to be largely causal. Our measure of PD may also reflect broader aspects of the community environment beyond peers. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Psychological Medicine
volume
45
issue
4
pages
855 - 864
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:25229163
  • wos:000349618900016
  • scopus:84927641418
  • pmid:25229163
ISSN
1469-8978
DOI
10.1017/S0033291714001937
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a3f596d2-282d-4eb4-8bd1-2e8e23de8e3f (old id 4691381)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25229163?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:53:18
date last changed
2022-03-12 18:01:47
@article{a3f596d2-282d-4eb4-8bd1-2e8e23de8e3f,
  abstract     = {{Background. Peer deviance (PD) is associated with risk for drug abuse (DA). Is this association causal? Method. DA was recorded in official records. PD was defined as the percentage of peers residing in small communities with future DA registrations. We examined offspring in families whose community PD changed when the offspring was 0-15 years of age and then examined families where cousins or siblings differed in their years of exposure to low or high PD communities. Results. The duration of exposure to PD was strongly associated with future DA. Co-relative analyses for families whose exposure to PD declined suggested that the PD-DA association was largely non-causal. Within full-sibling pairs in such families, the length of exposure to low PD environments was unrelated to risk for DA. By contrast, co-relative analyses in families where exposure to PD increased over time indicated that the PD-DA association was largely causal. In such families, siblings who differed in the duration of their exposure to high PD differed in their risk for subsequent DA. These results were replicated in families whose PD changed because they moved or because of changes in the community in which they resided. Conclusions. Within families whose social environment is improving over time, the association between PD exposure and offspring DA outcomes is not causal but is due to familial confounding. Within families whose social environment is deteriorating, the PD-DA association seems to be largely causal. Our measure of PD may also reflect broader aspects of the community environment beyond peers.}},
  author       = {{Kendler, Ken and Ohlsson, Henrik and Mezuk, Briana and Sundquist, Kristina and Sundquist, Jan}},
  issn         = {{1469-8978}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{855--864}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Psychological Medicine}},
  title        = {{Exposure to peer deviance during childhood and risk for drug abuse: a Swedish national co-relative control study.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291714001937}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S0033291714001937}},
  volume       = {{45}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}