Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking

Laura Bierut; Pietro Biroli; Titus J. Galama; Kevin Thom

doi:10.1016/j.joep.2023.102636

Back

Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking

Laura Bierut, Pietro Biroli, Titus J. Galama and Kevin Thom

Journal of economic psychology, Vol.98, p.102636

10/01/2023

DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2023.102636

PMCID: PMC10358858

PMID: 37484514

Files and links (1)

url

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2023.102636View

Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable disease and death in the U.S., and it is strongly influenced both by genetic predisposition and childhood adversity. Using polygenic indices (PGIs) of predisposition to smoking, we evaluate whether childhood financial distress (CFD; a composite measure of financial adversity) moderates genetic risk in explaining peak -cigarette consumption in adulthood. Using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we find a substantial reduction in the relationship between genetic risk and peak smoking for those who did not suffer financial adversity in childhood. Among adult smokers who grew up in high-CFD households, a one standard deviation higher PGI is associated with 2.9 more cigarettes smoked per day at peak. By contrast, among smokers who grew up in low-CFD households, this gradient is reduced by 37 percent (or 1.1 fewer). These results are robust to controlling for a host of prime confounders. By contrast, we find no evidence of interactions between the PGI and typical measures of childhood SES such as parental education -a null result that we replicate in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). This suggests the role of childhood financial distress in the relationship with peak smoking is distinct from that of low childhood SES, with high CFD potentially reflecting more acute distress than do measures of low childhood SES. Our evidence also suggests low childhood SES is a weaker proxy for acute distress, providing an alternative explanation for the childhood SES null result.

Business & Economics

Economics

Psychology

Psychology, Multidisciplinary

Social Sciences

Details

Title: Subtitle: Challenges in studying the interplay of genes and environment. A study of childhood financial distress moderating genetic predisposition for peak smoking
Creators: Laura Bierut - Washington University in St. Louis
Pietro Biroli - University of Bologna
Titus J. Galama - University of Southern California
Kevin Thom - University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of economic psychology, Vol.98, p.102636
DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2023.102636
PMID: 37484514
PMCID: PMC10358858
NLM abbreviation: J Econ Psychol
ISSN: 0167-4870
eISSN: 1872-7719
Publisher: Elsevier
Number of pages: 14
Grant note: RF1AG055654; R56AG058726; R01AG078522 / National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health; United States Department of Health & Human Services; National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA; NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA) VIDI.185.044 / Dutch National Science Foundation; Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
Language: English
Date published: 10/01/2023
Academic Unit: Economics
Record Identifier: 9984936841202771

Metrics

6 Record Views