Witnessing substance use increases same-day antisocial behavior among at-risk adolescents: Gene–environment interaction in a 30-day ecological momentary assessment study

Abstract Many young adolescents are embedded in neighborhoods, schools, and homes where alcohol and drugs are frequently used. However, little is known about (a) how witnessing others' substance use affects adolescents in their daily lives and (b) which adolescents will be most affected. The current study used ecological momentary assessment with 151 young adolescents (ages 11–15) to examine the daily association between witnessing substance use and antisocial behavior across 38 consecutive days. Results from multilevel logistic regression models indicated that adolescents were more likely to engage in antisocial behavior on days when they witnessed others using substances, an association that held when substance use was witnessed inside the home as well as outside the home (e.g., at school or in their neighborhoods). A significant Gene × Environment interaction suggested that the same-day association between witnessing substance use and antisocial behavior was significantly stronger among adolescents with, versus without, the dopamine receptor D4 seven repeat (DRD4-7R) allele. The implications of the findings for theory and research related to adolescent antisocial behavior are discussed.

[1]  Avshalom Caspi,et al.  Gene–environment interactions in psychiatry: joining forces with neuroscience , 2006, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

[2]  K. Sher.  Psychological Characteristics of Children of Alcoholics , 1997, Alcohol health and research world.

[3]  Avshalom Caspi,et al.  Gene-environment interplay and psychopathology: multiple varieties but real effects. , 2006, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[4]  Thomas J. Dishion,et al.  Deviancy training in male adolescent friendships , 1996 .

[5]  A. Heath,et al.  Paternal Alcoholism and Offspring Conduct Disorder: Evidence for the ‘Common Genes’ Hypothesis , 2005, Twin Research and Human Genetics.

[6]  Thorsten Gerber,et al.  Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis Modeling Change And Event Occurrence , 2016 .

[7]  H. Swadi.  Individual risk factors for adolescent substance use. , 1999, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[8]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Beyond diathesis stress: differential susceptibility to environmental influences. , 2009, Psychological bulletin.

[9]  L. Chassin,et al.  Parent Alcoholism Impacts the Severity and Timing of Children’s Externalizing Symptoms , 2010, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[10]  K. Sher,et al.  Characteristics of children of alcoholics: putative risk factors, substance use and abuse, and psychopathology. , 1991, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[11]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Differential susceptibility to rearing environment depending on dopamine-related genes: New evidence and a meta-analysis , 2011, Development and Psychopathology.

[12]  B. Grant.  Estimates of US children exposed to alcohol abuse and dependence in the family. , 2000, American journal of public health.

[13]  L. Cardon,et al.  Population stratification and spurious allelic association , 2003, The Lancet.

[14]  O. Schoots,et al.  The human dopamine D4 receptor repeat sequences modulate expression , 2003, The Pharmacogenomics Journal.

[15]  Patrick M. O'Malley,et al.  Monitoring the Future National Results on Adolescent Drug Use: Overview of Key Findings, 2004. , 2003 .

[16]  M. Bakermans-Kranenburg,et al.  Experimental Evidence for Differential Susceptibility: Dopamine D4 Receptor Polymorphism (drd4 Vntr) Moderates Intervention Effects on Toddlers' Externalizing Behavior in a Randomized Controlled Trial Differential Susceptibility and Genetic Vulnerability , 2022 .

[17]  S. Jaffee,et al.  From correlates to causes: can quasi-experimental studies and statistical innovations bring us closer to identifying the causes of antisocial behavior? , 2012, Psychological bulletin.

[18]  D. Dick.  Gene-environment interaction in psychological traits and disorders. , 2011, Annual review of clinical psychology.

[19]  Martin H. Schmidt,et al.  Association of the DRD4 exon III polymorphism with smoking in fifteen-year-olds: a mediating role for novelty seeking? , 2005, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[20]  N. Martin,et al.  Parental Alcoholism and Offspring Behavior Problems: Findings in Australian Children of Twins , 2009, Twin Research and Human Genetics.

[21]  T. Price,et al.  Gene–environment correlations: a review of the evidence and implications for prevention of mental illness , 2007, Molecular Psychiatry.

[22]  L. Johnston,et al.  Monitoring the Future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2019: Overview, key findings on adolescent drug use , 2014 .

[23]  D. Chapman,et al.  Adverse childhood experiences, alcoholic parents, and later risk of alcoholism and depression. , 2002, Psychiatric services.

[24]  J. Belsky,et al.  Gene-by-environment experiments: a new approach to finding the missing heritability , 2011, Nature Reviews Genetics.

[25]  J. Lusher,et al.  Dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) is associated with Novelty Seeking (NS) and substance abuse: the saga continues . . . , 2001, Molecular Psychiatry.

[26]  Donald R. Lynam,et al.  Aggression and Antisocial Behavior in Youth , 2007 .

[27]  Qing Luo,et al.  A two-stage model of peer influence in adolescent substance use: individual and relationship-specific differences in susceptibility to influence. , 2003, Addictive behaviors.

[28]  M. Barrera,et al.  Substance use and symptomatology among adolescent children of alcoholics. , 1991, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[29]  J. Singer,et al.  Applied Longitudinal Data Analysis , 2003 .

[30]  Laurence Steinberg,et al.  Peer influence on risk taking, risk preference, and risky decision making in adolescence and adulthood: an experimental study. , 2005, Developmental psychology.

[31]  Matthew K Nock,et al.  Prevalence, subtypes, and correlates of DSM-IV conduct disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication , 2006, Psychological Medicine.

[32]  R Plomin,et al.  Genotype-environment interaction and correlation in the analysis of human behavior. , 1977, Psychological bulletin.

[33]  R. Catalano,et al.  Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: implications for substance abuse prevention. , 1992, Psychological bulletin.

[34]  J. Palamar,et al.  Perceived neighborhood illicit drug selling, peer illicit drug disapproval and illicit drug use among U.S. high school seniors , 2014, Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy.

[35]  Chuansheng Chen,et al.  Gender-specific expression of the DRD4 gene on adolescent delinquency, anger and thrill seeking. , 2011, Social cognitive and affective neuroscience.

[36]  A. Caspi,et al.  Role of Genotype in the Cycle of Violence in Maltreated Children , 2002, Science.

[37]  H. Fitzgerald,et al.  Developmental trajectories of disruptive behavior problems among sons of alcoholics: effects of parent psychopathology, family conflict, and child undercontrol. , 2003, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[38]  F. Pampel.  Logistic Regression: A Primer , 2000 .

[39]  J. Anthony,et al.  “Unequal opportunity”: neighbourhood disadvantage and the chance to buy illegal drugs , 2004, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

[40]  R. Crum,et al.  Neighborhood environment and opportunity to use cocaine and other drugs in late childhood and early adolescence. , 1996, Drug and alcohol dependence.

[41]  H. Goldsmith,et al.  A Population-Based Twin Study of Parentally Reported Tactile and Auditory Defensiveness in Young Children , 2006, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[42]  R. Sinha.  How does stress increase risk of drug abuse and relapse? , 2001, Psychopharmacology.

[43]  Lori-Ann Palen,et al.  More than 7 million children live with a parent with alcohol problems , 2012 .

[44]  K. Kendler,et al.  A genetically informative developmental study of the relationship between conduct disorder and peer deviance in males , 2007, Psychological Medicine.

[45]  H. V. Van Tol,et al.  Modulation of Intracellular Cyclic AMP Levels by Different Human Dopamine D4 Receptor Variants , 1995, Journal of neurochemistry.

[46]  J. McGeary,et al.  The DRD4 VNTR polymorphism moderates craving after alcohol consumption. , 2002, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[47]  J. Swanson,et al.  Evidence of positive selection acting at the human dopamine receptor D4 gene locus , 2001, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[48]  S. Harter.  Psychosocial adjustment of adult children of alcoholics: a review of the recent empirical literature. , 2000, Clinical psychology review.

[49]  T. Dishion.  Cross-setting consistency in early adolescent psychopathology: deviant friendships and problem behavior sequelae. , 2000, Journal of personality.

[50]  B. Ellis,et al.  Printed in the United States of America DOI: 10.10170S0954579405050145 , 2022 .

[51]  T. Dishion,et al.  The Development and Ecology of Antisocial Behavior in Children and Adolescents , 2015 .

[52]  W. Iacono,et al.  Nonshared environmental mediation of the association between deviant peer affiliation and adolescent externalizing behaviors over time: results from a cross-lagged monozygotic twin differences design. , 2009, Developmental psychology.

[53]  Richie Poulton,et al.  Female and male antisocial trajectories: From childhood origins to adult outcomes , 2008, Development and Psychopathology.

[54]  S. Hill,et al.  Childhood psychopathology in children from families of alcoholic female probands. , 1996, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[55]  N. Bolger,et al.  Intensive Longitudinal Methods: An Introduction to Diary and Experience Sampling Research , 2013 .

[56]  K. Leonard,et al.  The Development of Aggression in 18 to 48 Month Old Children of Alcoholic Parents , 2006, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[57]  R. Larson.  How U.S. Children and Adolescents Spend Time: What It Does (and Doesn't) Tell Us About Their Development , 2001 .

[58]  R. Ebstein,et al.  Dopamine D4 receptor (D4DR) exon III polymorphism associated with the human personality trait of Novelty Seeking , 1996, Nature Genetics.

[59]  S. Faraone,et al.  Molecular genetics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. , 2010, The Psychiatric clinics of North America.

[60]  Daniel S. Nagin,et al.  OFFENDING TRAJECTORIES IN A NEW ZEALAND BIRTH COHORT , 2000 .

[61]  T. Dishion,et al.  When interventions harm. Peer groups and problem behavior. , 1999, The American psychologist.

[62]  M. Barrera,et al.  Relation of parental alcoholism to early adolescent substance use: a test of three mediating mechanisms. , 1993, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[63]  A. Caspi,et al.  MAOA, maltreatment, and gene–environment interaction predicting children's mental health: new evidence and a meta-analysis , 2006, Molecular Psychiatry.

[64]  Jay Belsky,et al.  Differential susceptibility to the environment: An evolutionary–neurodevelopmental theory , 2011, Development and Psychopathology.

[65]  P. Cuijpers,et al.  Differences between men and women in self-reported body mass index and its relation to drug use , 2014, Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy.

[66]  J. Belsky,et al.  Vulnerability genes or plasticity genes? , 2009, Molecular Psychiatry.

[67]  Anthony S. Bryk,et al.  Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods , 1992 .

[68]  Arslan A. Zaidi,et al.  The conditioning of intervention effects on early adolescent alcohol use by maternal involvement and dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) and serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) genetic variants , 2015, Development and Psychopathology.

[69]  A. Hariri,et al.  Genetic variation in components of dopamine neurotransmission impacts ventral striatal reactivity associated with impulsivity , 2009, Molecular Psychiatry.

[70]  Ronald C. Kessler,et al.  Linear Panel Analysis: Models of Quantitative Change. , 1984 .

[71]  P. Seeman,et al.  Multiple dopamine D4 receptor variants in the human population , 1992, Nature.

[72]  M. Posner,et al.  Genes and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder , 2001, Clinical Neuroscience Research.

[73]  N. Rothman,et al.  Population stratification in epidemiologic studies of common genetic variants and cancer: quantification of bias. , 2000, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[74]  D. Murphy,et al.  Population and familial association between the D4 dopamine receptor gene and measures of Novelty Seeking , 1996, Nature Genetics.

[75]  S. Shiffman.  Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in studies of substance use. , 2009, Psychological assessment.

[76]  K. Hutchison,et al.  The DRD4 VNTR polymorphism influences reactivity to smoking cues. , 2002, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[77]  S. Shiffman,et al.  Ecological momentary assessment. , 2008, Annual review of clinical psychology.

[78]  S. Manuck,et al.  MAOA, Childhood Maltreatment, and Antisocial Behavior: Meta-analysis of a Gene-Environment Interaction , 2014, Biological Psychiatry.

[79]  B. Franke,et al.  A Variable-Number-of-Tandem-Repeats Polymorphism in the Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene Affects Social Adaptation of Alcohol Use , 2010, Psychological science.

[80]  Eliza Congdon,et al.  Analysis of DRD4 and DAT polymorphisms and behavioral inhibition in healthy adults: Implications for impulsivity , 2008, American journal of medical genetics. Part B, Neuropsychiatric genetics : the official publication of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics.

[81]  L. Rips,et al.  Answering autobiographical questions: the impact of memory and inference on surveys. , 1987, Science.

[82]  I. Sigel,et al.  HANDBOOK OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY , 2006 .

[83]  A. Simons,et al.  Diathesis-stress theories in the context of life stress research: implications for the depressive disorders. , 1991, Psychological bulletin.

[84]  M. Rutter,et al.  Gene–environment interplay in relation to emotional and behavioural disturbance , 2002, European Psychiatry.

[85]  K. Bucholz,et al.  Effect of paternal alcohol and drug dependence on offspring conduct disorder: gene-environment interplay. , 2010, Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs.