# MULTILEVEL INTERPLAYS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOBACCO DEPENDENCE

> **NIH NIH R01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $381,250

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Tobacco use in adolescents and young adults remains one of the most challenging public health issues in the
United States. Adolescence and young adulthood represent a window of heightened vulnerability to tobacco
use. A high proportion of adolescent tobacco users develop tobacco dependence during the adolescence and
young adulthood. Thus, full understanding of the risk mechanisms of tobacco dependence is critical for
multilevel interventions to reduce the risk of developing tobacco dependence. Although individual-level genetic
and nongenetic risk factors for tobacco dependence have been established, only few prospective studies have
assessed neighborhood effects on smoking behaviors. The role of neighborhood conditions and gene-
neighborhood interplays in the development of tobacco dependence, particularly among adolescents and
young adults, remain unclear. In addition, as a common event in longitudinal studies, mobility-induced change
of neighborhood exposures may have an impact on smoking behaviors, which were ignored in the previous
research and might lead to inaccurate estimations of neighborhood effects. The Missouri Adolescent Female
Twin Study (MOAFTS) is a well-characterized prospective cohort study in which individual- and family-level
information and residential histories were collected at baseline and updated periodically during the 20-year
followup. This provides us a unique opportunity to examine the main and interactive effects of neighborhood
exposures on tobacco dependence. Specifically, we will longitudinally assess the impacts of neighborhood
conditions on the development of tobacco dependence (Aim 1) and characterize the geographic pattern of
within-subject changes in neighborhood exposures and its effect on the development of tobacco dependence
(Aim 2). Furthermore, we will prospectively examine the interactive effects of neighborhood exposures and
genetic predisposition on the risk for tobacco dependence among adolescents and young adults (Aim 3).
National and statewide data sources will be used to develop various small-area neighborhood measures that
will be linked to the MOAFTS cohort. By integrating marginal structural modeling to multilevel behavioral
genetic modeling, we will accurately assess the role of neighborhoods and gene-neighborhood interactions in
tobacco dependence by controlling for mobility-induced spatial uncertainty. To our knowledge, this will be the
first prospective study to comprehensively assess the role of neighborhood conditions and gene-neighborhood
interplays in the development of tobacco dependence among adolescents and young adults. The results will
refine our understanding of the risk mechanisms of tobacco dependence and inform multi-level strategies for
reducing tobacco dependence among adolescents and young adults, ultimately reducing the burden of
tobacco-related diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9963186
- **Project number:** 5R01DA044254-04
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Min Lian
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $381,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9963186

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9963186, MULTILEVEL INTERPLAYS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOBACCO DEPENDENCE (5R01DA044254-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9963186. Licensed CC0.

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