R01DA054087

Understanding the Links Between Parental and Adolescent Substance Use: Complementary Natural Experiments Using the Children of Twins Design - Project Summary

A fundamental question in human development is how and to what extent parents shape the behavior of their children. Current perspectives on the intergenerational transmission of substance use and disorder have been greatly influenced by longstanding socialization theories of parental modeling and problematic parenting. At the same time, substance use and disorder are heritable, and substance-using parents also pass genetic liability to use substances to their children. Identifying causal mechanisms of intergenerational transmission is critical to develop and implement effective preventive-intervention efforts, but observational studies of nuclear families and parent-child dyads fully confound socialization and genetic influences.

Effects of parental substance use within families are particularly salient now, in the context of rapid shifts in marijuana legality, availability, and acceptability. We will examine the intergenerational impact of parental marijuana use using two complementary natural experiments - the Children of Twins Design and a comparison of two states with markedly different marijuana laws - in 6,457 parents and adolescents from 1,902 families in Colorado and Minnesota. Twin parents are participants in the Colorado-Minnesota Marijuana Study (DA042755), a collaboration between two genetically informative, longitudinal twin studies with parallel, multi-wave, longitudinal measures that are conducted in two states with marked differences in current marijuana legality and availability. We now intend to recruit and twins' adolescent children, and non-twin parents/caregivers, to evaluate parent-child transmission of marijuana use and disorder.

The following specific aims will be addressed:

(1) Differentiate mechanisms of parent-child transmission of marijuana use and disorder using an innovative Children of Twins Design;
(2) Determine effects of marijuana legalization on parents, families, and adolescents by comparing parental and adolescent marijuana use, parenting practices, and the family environment in two states with markedly different marijuana laws;
(3) Delineate effects of behavioral disinhibition in the context of marijuana legalization, testing the hypothesis that parents and adolescents with greater disinhibition will use marijuana at higher rates and/or with more problems in Colorado.

Leveraging these uniquely informative, complementary study designs, as well as the comprehensive longitudinal data already collected in these twin samples, we will be able to answer important questions about the intergenerational transmission of substance use in a rapidly changing landscape - legalized recreational marijuana - with critical implications for prevention and intervention efforts and public policy.

The Regents Of The University Of Colorado

TO SUPPORT BASIC AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCE, BIOMEDICAL, BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, EPIDEMIOLOGIC, HEALTH SERVICES AND HEALTH DISPARITY RESEARCH. TO DEVELOP NEW KNOWLEDGE AND APPROACHES RELATED TO THE PREVENTION, DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, ETIOLOGY, AND CONSEQUENCES OF DRUG ABUSE AND ADDICTION, INCLUDING HIV/AIDS. TO SUPPORT RESEARCH TRAINING AND RESEARCH SCIENTIST DEVELOPMENT. TO SUPPORT DISSEMINATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) LEGISLATION IS INTENDED TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAMS TO EMPHASIZE AND INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED THROUGH FEDERAL SBIR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN THE SBIR PROGRAM. THE LEGISLATION INTENDS THAT THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.279 - Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) [HHS - NIH]

Boulder, Colorado 803090001 United States

Single Zip Code

NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (PA-20-185)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 345% from $869,331 to $3,871,138.