Onset of Regular Cannabis Use & Young Adult Insomnia: An Analysis of Shared Genetic Liability
Recommended Citation
Winiger EA, Huggett SB, Hatoum AS, Friedman NP, Drake CL, Wright KP, and Hewitt JK. Onset of Regular Cannabis Use & Young Adult Insomnia: An Analysis of Shared Genetic Liability. Sleep 2019.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2-2019
Publication Title
Sleep
Abstract
STUDY OBJECTIVES: Estimate the genetic and environmental influences on the relationship between onset of regular cannabis use and young adult insomnia.
METHODS: In a population-based twin cohort of 1882 twins (56% female, mean age = 22.99, SD = 2.97) we explored the genetic/environmental etiology of the relationship between onset of regular cannabis use and insomnia-related outcomes via multivariate twin models.
RESULTS: Controlling for sex, current depression symptoms, and prior diagnosis of an anxiety or depression disorder, adult twins who reported early onset for regular cannabis use (age 17 or younger) were more likely to have insomnia (β = 0.07, p = 0.024) and insomnia with short sleep on weekdays (β = 0.08, p = 0.003) as young adults. We found significant genetic contributions for the onset of regular cannabis use (a2 = 76%, p < 0.001), insomnia (a2 = 44%, p < 0.001) and insomnia with short sleep on weekdays (a2 = 37%, p < 0.001). We found significant genetic correlations between onset of regular use and both insomnia (rA = 0.20, p = 0.047) and insomnia with short sleep on weekdays (rA = 0.25, p = 0.008) but no significant environmental associations between these traits.
CONCLUSION: We found common genetic liabilities for early onset of regular cannabis use and insomnia, implying pleiotropic influences of genes on both traits.
PubMed ID
31855253
ePublication
ePub ahead of print
