ArticleThe American journal of psychiatry2013
Early smoking onset and risk for subsequent nicotine dependence: a monozygotic co-twin control study.
Article in The American journal of psychiatry, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 92 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 176 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tobacco and cannabis use in the young 'Not in Employment, Education or Training' population: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- A meta-analysis of sexual orientation inequities in substance use among youth.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- Reactions to a Nicotine Reduction Policy Among Adolescents Who Smoke: A Qualitative Study.Nicotine & tobacco research : official journal of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco · 2024Trial
- The Impact of Implementation Fidelity of a School-Based Multi-Component Smoking Prevention Intervention on Vocational Students' Smoking Behavior: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Effects of Communities That Care on Males' and Females' Drug Use and Delinquency 9 Years After Baseline in a Community-Randomized Trial.American journal of community psychology · 2015Trial
- Characteristics of smoking used cigarettes among an incarcerated population.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2015Trial
- Quit attempts and cessation support among youth smokers in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional analysis of the 2022 Global Youth Tobacco Survey.Tobacco induced diseases · 2026Article
- From cigarettes to symptoms: the association between smoking and depression in the German National Cohort (NAKO).BMC public health · 2025Article
- Trends in initiation of regular cigarette smoking in 28 European countries, 1940-2019: retrospective reconstruction from repeated cross-sectional surveys.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- Predictors of cigarette smoking frequency among European adolescents aged 13-15: the critical role of parental smoking and age of initiation.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Planned versus Unplanned Daily Substance Use among Sexual Minority Youth: The Moderating Role of Social Norms.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2025Article
- Behavioral economics of polysubstance use: The role of orexin-1 receptors in nicotine-induced augmentation of synthetic opioid consumption.Neuropharmacology · 2025Article
- The Effects of THC and Nicotine on Attention: A Narrative Review.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Sex differences in the roles of nicotine use and puberty on youth C-reactive protein levels: Effects above and beyond adversity.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- A Bivariate Twin Study of Lifetime cannabis Initiation and Lifetime Regular Tobacco Smoking Across Three Different Countries.Behavior genetics · 2024Article
- Adolescent nicotine exposure promotes adulthood opioid consumption that persists despite adverse consequences and increases the density of insular perineuronal nets.Addiction neuroscience · 2024Article
- Explanatory factors of polydrug use in mid-late teens and the relevance of information sources: Correlational and configurational assessment in Tarragona (Spain).AIMS public health · 2024Article
- Prospective Association Between Tobacco Use and at-Risk Alcohol Consumption Among Swedish Adolescents: Outlining the Influence of Tobacco Product, Frequency of Use and Gender in the LoRDIA Cohort.Tobacco use insights · 2024Article
- Association between vmPFC gray matter volume and smoking initiation in adolescents.Nature communications · 2023Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveEarly onset of regular smoking is associated with an elevated risk for later nicotine dependence. Whether or not this association is causal is unknown and has substantial public policy implications.
methodThe authors used a monozygotic co-twin control study design. Pairs were selected from the Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders for discordance in age at onset of regular smoking. Nicotine dependence was measured by the Fagerström test for nicotine dependence and level of craving.
resultsThe authors identified 175 male-male and 69 female-female monozygotic twin pairs who differed by at least 2 years in age at onset of regular smoking. During their period of heaviest smoking, the twin who began smoking earlier had significantly higher Fagerström test scores in both the male-male (Cohen's d=0.20) and female-female twin pairs (d=0.26). Craving for cigarettes when unable to smoke was also higher in the early-onset member in both groups (male pairs, d=0.38; female pairs, d=0.25). The early-onset smoking twin did not differ from the later-onset twin in symptoms of alcohol or cannabis abuse or dependence, current alcohol use, or maximal level of cannabis, sedative, stimulant, or cocaine use.
conclusionsControlling for genetic and familial-environmental effects, age at onset of regular smoking predicted level of nicotine dependence. Consistent with the animal literature, these findings suggest that in humans, early nicotine exposure directly increases level of later nicotine dependence. These results should be interpreted in the context of the methodological strengths and limitations of the monozygotic co-twin design.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.