Genetic architecture of reciprocal social behavior in toddlers: Implications for heterogeneity in the early origins of autism spectrum disorder.

Impairment in reciprocal social behavior (RSB), an essential component of early social competence, clinically defines autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the behavioral and genetic architecture of RSB in toddlerhood, when ASD first emerges, has not been fully characterized. We analyzed data from a quantitative video-referenced rating of RSB (vrRSB) in two toddler samples: a community-based volunteer research registry (n = 1,563) and an ethnically diverse, longitudinal twin sample ascertained from two state birth registries (n = 714).

The interaction of sociodemographic risk factors and measures of nicotine dependence in predicting maternal smoking during pregnancy.

Background: Understanding differences in nicotine dependence assessments' ability to predict smoking cessation is complicated by variation in quit attempt contexts. Pregnancy reduces this variation, as each pregnant smoker receives the same strong cessation incentive. Cigarette smoking during pregnancy (SDP) provides a powerful paradigm for analyzing the interplay between nicotine dependence measures and sociodemographics in predicting cessation failure.

Childhood Trauma and Two Stages of Alcohol Use in African American and European American Women: Findings from a Female Twin Sample.

The current investigation assessed for moderating effects of childhood trauma on genetic and environmental contributions to timing of alcohol use initiation and alcohol use disorder in African American (AA) and European American (EA) women. Data were drawn from diagnostic telephone interviews conducted with 3786 participants (14.6% AA) in a longitudinal female twin study.

Phenotypic and familial associations between childhood maltreatment and cannabis initiation and problems in young adult European-American and African-American women.

Background: Childhood maltreatment is a known risk factor for cannabis initiation and problem use, but the extent to which this association is attributable to shared familial influences is unknown. We estimate the magnitude of associations between childhood maltreatment, timing of cannabis initiation, and cannabis-related problems, in European-American (EA) and African-American (AA) women, and parse the relative influence of additive genetic (A), shared environmental (C), and individual-specific environmental (E) factors on these constructs and their covariation.

Methods: Data were from diagnostic telephone interviews conducted with 3786 participants (14.

The Influence of Paternal Separation, Paternal History of Alcohol Use Disorder Risk, and Early Substance Use on Offspring Educational Attainment by Young Adulthood.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the associations among paternal alcohol problems, separation, and educational attainment in European American and African American offspring and whether offspring early alcohol/tobacco/marijuana use influenced these associations.

Method: Families with offspring ages 13-19 years at intake were selected from state birth records and screened by telephone to determine high-risk or low-risk status (with/without paternal heavy drinking). Families of men with two or more driving-under-the-influence offenses were added as a very-high-risk group.

Heritability of brain activity related to response inhibition: A longitudinal genetic study in adolescent twins.

The ability to inhibit prepotent but context- or goal-inappropriate responses is essential for adaptive self-regulation of behavior. Deficits in response inhibition, a key component of impulsivity, have been implicated as a core dysfunction in a range of neuropsychiatric disorders such as ADHD and addictions. Identification of genetically transmitted variation in the neural underpinnings of response inhibition can help to elucidate etiological pathways to these disorders and establish the links between genes, brain, and behavior.

Association of Specific Traumatic Experiences With Alcohol Initiation and Transitions to Problem Use in European American and African American Women.

Background: The aims of this study were to (i) characterize racial differences in alcohol involvement and (ii) examine the risk conferred by specific trauma exposures and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for different stages of alcohol involvement in European American (EA) and African American (AA) women.

Methods: Data are from the Missouri Adolescent Female Twins Study (N = 3,787, 14.6% AA; mean age at most recent interview = 24.

Differences between White and Black young women in the relationship between religious service attendance and alcohol involvement.

Background And Objectives: We examined the associations of religious attendance during childhood (C-RA) and adulthood (A-RA) with alcohol involvement (ever drinking, timing of first alcohol use, and alcohol use disorder [AUD]) in White and Black female twins. As genetic and environmental factors influence religious attendance and alcohol involvement, we examined the extent to which they contribute to their association.

Methods: Data on 3,234 White and 553 Black female twins (18-29 years) from the Missouri Adolescent Female twin Study.

Differences in childhood physical abuse reporting and the association between CPA and alcohol use disorder in European American and African American women.

The goal of the current study was to examine whether the magnitude of the association between childhood physical abuse (CPA) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) varies by type of CPA assessment and race of the respondents. Data are from the Missouri adolescent female twins study and the Missouri family study (N = 4508) where 21.2% identified as African American (AA) and 78.

Adolescent cannabis use and repeated voluntary unprotected sex in women.

Background And Aims: Substance use has been implicated in the onset and maintenance of risky sexual behaviors, which have particularly devastating consequences in young women. This study examined whether (i) adolescent onset of cannabis use is associated with repeated voluntary unprotected sex in women and (ii) whether this association persists after accounting for correlated familial influences.

Design: General population sample of female twins.

Progression from First Drink, First Intoxication, and Regular Drinking to Alcohol Use Disorder: A Comparison of African American and European American Youth.

Background: Differences between African Americans (AAs) and European Americans (EAs) in the prevalence and age at onset of alcohol use and alcohol use disorder (AUD) have been documented, but distinctions in the timing of early stage transitions and contribution of various psychiatric and psychosocial risk factors to the progression from initiation to AUD have yet to be investigated. The current study characterized progression from alcohol use initiation-defined alternatively as first drink, first intoxication, and regular drinking onset-to AUD in AA and EA youth.

Methods: Psychiatric interviews were administered via telephone to 1,461 participants (56% AA, 44% EA) in a high-risk family study (50.

Childhood sexual abuse and two stages of cigarette smoking in African-American and European-American young women.

Objective: The aim of the current study was to determine whether the higher rates of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) but lower rates of cigarette smoking in African-American vs. European-American women can be explained in part by a lower magnitude of association between CSA and smoking in African-American women.

Methods: Data were drawn from a same-sex female twin study of substance use (n=3521; 14.

The genetic relationship between cannabis and tobacco cigarette use in European- and African-American female twins and siblings.

Background: Use of cigarettes and cannabis frequently co-occurs. We examine the role of genetic and environmental influences on variation in and covariation between tobacco cigarette and cannabis use across European-American (EA) and African-American (AA) women.

Methods: Data on lifetime cannabis and cigarette use were drawn from interviews of 956 AA and 3557 EA young adult female twins and non-twin same sex female full siblings.

Genetic influences on heart rate variability.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is the variation of cardiac inter-beat intervals over time resulting largely from the interplay between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. Individual differences in HRV are associated with emotion regulation, personality, psychopathology, cardiovascular health, and mortality. Previous studies have shown significant heritability of HRV measures.

Familial influences on the full range of variability in attention and activity levels during adolescence: A longitudinal twin study.

To investigate familial influences on the full range of variability in attention and activity across adolescence, we collected maternal ratings of 339 twin pairs at ages 12, 14, and 16, and estimated the transmitted and new familial influences on attention and activity as measured by the Strengths and Weaknesses of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms and Normal Behavior Scale. Familial influences were substantial for both traits across adolescence: genetic influences accounted for 54%-73% (attention) and 31%-73% (activity) of the total variance, and shared environmental influences accounted for 0%-22% of the attention variance and 13%-57% of the activity variance. The longitudinal stability of individual differences in attention and activity was largely accounted for by familial influences transmitted from previous ages.

The Association of Low Parental Monitoring With Early Substance Use in European American and African American Adolescent Girls.

Objective: Research indicates that low parental monitoring increases the risk for early substance use. Because low parental monitoring tends to co-occur with other familial and neighborhood factors, the specificity of the association is challenging to establish. Using logistic regression and propensity score analyses, we examined associations between low parental monitoring and early substance use in European American (EA) and African American (AA) girls, controlling for risk factors associated with low parental monitoring.

Genetic and environmental contributions to initiation of cigarette smoking in young African-American and European-American women.

Background: Distinctions in the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to initiation of cigarette smoking may explain, in part, the differences between African Americans and European Americans in the prevalence of smoking. The current investigation is the first to compare heritable and environmental influences on smoking initiation between African-American and European-American women.

Methods: Data were drawn from Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study participants and female Missouri Family Study participants (n=4498; 21% African-American, the remainder European-American).

Bulimic Behaviors and Early Substance Use: Findings from a Cotwin-Control Study.

Background: Bulimic behaviors (i.e., binge eating and compensatory behaviors) and substance use frequently co-occur.

Differences Between African-American and European-American Women in the Association of Childhood Sexual Abuse With Initiation of Marijuana Use and Progression to Problem Use.

Objective: Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with elevated risk of early marijuana use and cannabis use disorder (CUD). Both the prevalence of CSA and the course of marijuana use differ between African Americans and European Americans. The current study aimed to determine whether these differences manifest in racial/ ethnic distinctions in the association of CSA with early and problem use of marijuana.

Genetic overlap between alcohol use disorder and bulimic behaviors in European American and African American women.

Background: Despite substantial evidence that alcohol use disorder (AUD) and bulimic behaviors (i.e., binge eating and compensatory behaviors) co-occur, insufficient information exists regarding a possible shared etiology.

Parental Separation and Offspring Alcohol Involvement: Findings from Offspring of Alcoholic and Drug Dependent Twin Fathers.

Background: We examined associations between parental separation during childhood and offspring alcohol involvement, adjusting for genetic and environmental risks specific to parental alcohol (AD) and cannabis/other illicit drug dependence (DD).

Methods: The sample consisted of 1,828 offspring of male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry, who completed a telephone diagnostic interview. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted predicting onset of first use, transition from first use to first AD symptom, and transition from first use to AD diagnosis from paternal and avuncular AD and DD history, parental separation, and offspring and family background characteristics.

Trait-based assessment of borderline personality disorder using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory: Phenotypic and genetic support.

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported in Vol 28(1) of Psychological Assessment (see record 2015-54029-001). The FFI-BPD values for Sample 3 in Table 2 should read 1.42 (0.

Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, and Eating-Related Pathology in a National Sample of College Students.

Purpose: This study examined associations of gender identity and sexual orientation with self-reported eating disorder (SR-ED) diagnosis and compensatory behaviors in transgender and cisgender college students.

Methods: Data came from 289,024 students from 223 U.S.