College Attendance and Its Effect on Drinking Behaviors in a Longitudinal Study of AdolescentsAlcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research (OnlineEarly Articles).
While college attendance has been shown to be associated with increased drinking behaviors, there are no studies to our knowledge that have examined whether college attendance moderates genetic influences for drinking.
We first tested for changes in alcohol consumption in adolescents who did and did not subsequently attend college, and then tested for variation of the genetic and environmental determinants of drinking in these 2 groups.
Participants who did not attend college reported more binge drinking and consumed greater quantities of alcohol as adolescents than participants who subsequently attended college. However, the college students not only surpassed their noncollege peers in alcohol use as young adults, but also exhibited a greater genetic influence on quantity of alcohol consumed per drinking episode.
Exposure to a college environment acts as an environmental moderator, supporting the hypothesis that the magnitude of genetic influence on certain aspects of alcohol consumption is greater in environments where drinking behaviors are more likely to be promoted.
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