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Genetic and environmental contributions to smoking
Author(s) -
TRUE WILLIAM R.,
HEATH ANDREW C.,
SCHERRER JEFFREY F.,
WATERMAN BRIAN,
GOLDBERG JACK,
LIN G,
EISEN SETH A.,
LYONS MICHAEL J.,
TSUANG MING T.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1997.tb02847.x
Subject(s) - persistence (discontinuity) , twin study , demography , smoking cessation , nicotine , nicotine dependence , variance (accounting) , heritability , telephone survey , environmental health , psychology , medicine , biology , psychiatry , genetics , engineering , geotechnical engineering , accounting , pathology , sociology , business , marketing
We estimate the magnitude of genetic and shared environmental contributions to risk of initiation and maintenance of smoking. Genetic models were fitted to data from 2 204 male‐male monozygotic and I 793 male‐male dizygotic twin pairs from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry who responded to smoking questions on a 1987 mail and telephone survey. The best fitting model allowed for both genetic and shared environmental effects on smoking initiation, accounting for 50% and 30% of the variance in risk, but allowed for only genetic effects, (accounting for 70% of the variance in risk), on persistence in smoking among those who had become regular smokers. This finding of a major genetic influence on smoking persistence confirms similar results from studies in Scandinavia and Australia. The role of heritable traits such as nicotine sensitivity should be addressed in smoking prevention and cessation efforts.