Dataset Information

Peer Influence, Genetic Propensity, and Binge Drinking: A Natural Experiment and a Replication.

ABSTRACT: The authors draw data from the College Roommate Study (ROOM) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to investigate gene-environment interaction effects on youth binge drinking. In ROOM, the environmental influence was measured by the precollege drinking behavior of randomly assigned roommates. Random assignment safeguards against friend selection and removes the threat of gene-environment correlation that makes gene-environment interaction effects difficult to interpret. On average, being randomly assigned a drinking peer as opposed to a nondrinking peer increased college binge drinking by 0.5-1.0 episodes per month, or 20%-40% the average amount of binge drinking. However, this peer influence was found only among youths with a medium level of genetic propensity for alcohol use; those with either a low or high genetic propensity were not influenced by peer drinking. A replication of the findings is provided in data drawn from Add Health. The study shows that gene-environment interaction analysis can uncover social-contextual effects likely to be missed by traditional sociological approaches.

SUBMITTER: Guo G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6650272 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Peer Influence, Genetic Propensity, and Binge Drinking: A Natural Experiment and a Replication.

Guo Guang G Li Yi Y Wang Hongyu H Cai Tianji T Duncan Greg J GJ

AJS; American journal of sociology 20151101 3

The authors draw data from the College Roommate Study (ROOM) and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to investigate gene-environment interaction effects on youth binge drinking. In ROOM, the environmental influence was measured by the precollege drinking behavior of randomly assigned roommates. Random assignment safeguards against friend selection and removes the threat of gene-environment correlation that makes gene-environment interaction effects difficult to interpret. On ave ...[more]

PMID: 26900620

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Project description:AimsTo test how a housing voucher generating residential mobility to lower-poverty neighborhoods, compared with public housing controls, influenced adolescent binge drinking, and whether gender modified effects.DesignA multi-site household-level three-arm randomized trial of a housing intervention executed 1994-98, evaluated 2001-02.SettingFive US cities: Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Los Angeles, CA; and New York, NY.ParticipantsA total of 3537 adolescents in 4248 low-income eligible families were randomized; 2829 adolescents were analyzed at the interim evaluation (1950 in treatment; 879 in the control group). Attrition bias was accounted for with a 3-in-10 oversampling of hard-to-reach participants (effective response rate: 89%).InterventionsThe Moving to Opportunity (MTO) trial randomized volunteer low-income families in public housing to receive (1) rental subsidies redeemable in neighborhoods with < 10% tract poverty plus housing counseling, (2) unrestricted Section 8 rental subsidies or (3) to remain in public housing. We pooled the subsidy ('treatment') groups because they were conceptually similar and there was no evidence of statistical differences between groups on binge drinking.MeasurementsPrimary outcome: past month binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting).FindingsAdolescent binge drinking prevalence was 3.9% for treatment and 3.2% for control. The intention-to-treat (ITT) main effect of subsidy treatment (versus control) on binge drinking was non-significant, but treatment effects were different for girls and boys (treatment-gender interaction P = 0.002). MTO treatment reduced girls' binge drinking [odds ratio (OR) = 0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.24-0.96, P = 0.037], but increased boys' binge drinking (OR = 2.37, 95% CI = 1.13-4.97, P = 0.023), compared with controls. Results were similar for secondary alcohol outcomes. Instrumental variable (IV) results adjusting for treatment compliance were comparable with ITT, but larger.ConclusionsA housing subsidy treatment that enables low-income families to move from public to private housing appears to lessen girls' binge drinking but increases boys' binge drinking, compared with controls.

Dataset Information

Peer Influence, Genetic Propensity, and Binge Drinking: A Natural Experiment and a Replication.

Publications

Peer Influence, Genetic Propensity, and Binge Drinking: A Natural Experiment and a Replication.

Similar Datasets

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