Geels L M, Vink J M, van Beek J H D A, Willemsen G, Bartels M, Boomsma D I
Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Tijdschr Psychiatr. 2013;55(8):585-97.
Early alcohol initiation is strongly associated with increased alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse/dependence in adulthood. The mechanisms that underlie this association are unclear.
To examine whether there is a causal link between early alcohol initiation and later alcohol consumption.
Survey data were collected from twin pairs (age range 18-80) included in the Netherlands Twin Register (NTR). A discordant twin design was used to examine the origin of the link between early alcohol initiation and adult alcohol consumption. Within monozygotic pairs (82-143 pairs), twins who started drinking early were compared to their brother/sister who started drinking later, on frequency of alcohol use, weekly alcohol consumption, number of alcohol intoxications, excessive drinking, alcohol abuse/-dependence, and hazardous drinking. By drawing comparisons within monozygotic pairs, we were able to control for the effects of genes/shared environment. Additional analyses examined the effects of age, sex, and in-/exclusion of lifelong abstainers.
Within monozygotic twin pairs, the twin who had started drinking early did not differ significantly from his/her brother/sister with respect to future alcohol consumption. Results were independent of age, sex, and in-/exclusion of lifelong abstainers.
Early alcohol initiation did not have significant causal effects on subsequent alcohol consumption in adulthood and may be an indicator of a predisposition for alcohol consumption. Campaigns aimed at raising the minimum age for alcohol initiation will possibly have only a limited effect on adult alcohol consumption.
过早开始饮酒与成年后饮酒量增加及酒精滥用/依赖密切相关。这种关联背后的机制尚不清楚。
研究过早开始饮酒与后期饮酒量之间是否存在因果关系。
从荷兰双胞胎登记处（NTR）纳入的双胞胎对（年龄范围18 - 80岁）收集调查数据。采用不一致双胞胎设计来研究过早开始饮酒与成年后饮酒量之间联系的根源。在同卵双胞胎对（82 - 143对）中，将过早开始饮酒的双胞胎与其较晚开始饮酒的兄弟姐妹在饮酒频率、每周饮酒量、酒精中毒次数、过度饮酒、酒精滥用/依赖及危险饮酒方面进行比较。通过在同卵双胞胎对内部进行比较，我们能够控制基因/共享环境的影响。额外的分析考察了年龄、性别以及终身戒酒者的纳入/排除的影响。
在同卵双胞胎对中，过早开始饮酒的双胞胎在未来饮酒量方面与其兄弟姐妹没有显著差异。结果不受年龄、性别以及终身戒酒者的纳入/排除的影响。
过早开始饮酒对成年后随后的饮酒量没有显著的因果影响，可能是饮酒易感性的一个指标。旨在提高饮酒起始最低年龄的活动可能对成年后的饮酒量只有有限的影响。
