Citation

Deutsch AR, Slutske WS, Heath AC, Madden PAF, Martin NG. J. Adolesc. Health 2014; 54(1): 114-116.

Affiliation

Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, Missouri; Midwest Alcohol Research Center, Columbia, Missouri. Electronic address: arielle.deutsch@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.07.013

PMID

23992762

Abstract

PURPOSE: Using a genetically informed, discordant twin analysis, the objective of this study was to examine whether earlier onset of drinking and smoking behaviors predicted early sexual intercourse onset. METHODS: Over 3,400 adult same-sex twins from the Australian Twin Registry completed a structured interview that included retrospective reports on onsets of smoking, drinking, intoxication, and sexual intercourse and conduct disorder symptoms. A two-level frailty model estimated within-twin-pair and between-twin-pair comparisons. Onsets of smoking, drinking, drunkenness, and conduct disorder symptoms were estimated as sexual intercourse onset predictors. RESULTS: After controlling for conduct disorder, smoking and drinking onset did not predict sexual intercourse onset for either within-twin-pair or between-twin-pair comparisons. Drunkenness onset had a significant effect on sexual intercourse onset, such that twins who first experienced alcohol intoxication at a younger age than their co-twins were also more likely to have sex earlier than their co-twins. CONCLUSIONS: Relationships between substance use and sexual intercourse onsets may be due mostly to shared underlying factors; there was only a small relation between intoxication onset and sexual intercourse onset, and no direct relation between smoking and drinking onset and sexual intercourse onset.

Language: en