Smoking behavior among twins points toward an increasing role of genetics when it comes to quitting the habit, according to a study led by the University of Colorado Boulder.
Researchers surveyed a database of nearly 600 pairs of twins — some identical, some fraternal — about their smoking patterns from 1960-1980, as social attitudes about smoking changed.
Among identical twins, if one quit, the other also quit within a two-year span 65 percent of the time, the study found. That happened only 55 percent of the time among fraternal twins.
Because identical twins share the same genes and fraternal twins don’t, the stastically significant difference suggests a genetic factor influencing the ability to quit, said Fred Pampel, sociology professor at CU and co-author of the study.
“The main significance is that the population of smokers has changed substantially over time,” Pampel said. “And the approaches to eliminating smoking might have to change to deal with that. The genetic influences are stronger now than in the past, which means that they’re harder-core smokers.”
The study will appear in the November edition of the journal Demography. CU associate professor Jason Boardman and doctoral student Casey Blalock led the effort, which was co-authored with Pampel, Peter Hatemi of Penn State University, Andrew Heath of Washington University in St. Louis and Lindon Eaves of the Medical College of Virginia.
