The NLSY Kinship Links: Using the NLSY79 and NLSY-Children Data to Conduct Genetically-Informed and Family-Oriented Research.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth datasets (NLSY79; NLSY-Children/Young Adults; NLSY97) have extensive family pedigree information contained within them. These data sources are based on probability sampling, a longitudinal design, and a cross-generational and within-family data structure, with hundreds of phenotypes relevant to behavior genetic (BG) researchers, as well as to other developmental and family researchers. These datasets provide a unique and powerful source of information for BG researchers. But much of the information required for biometrical modeling has been hidden, and has required substantial programming effort to uncover-until recently. Our research team has spent over 20 years developing kinship links to genetically inform biometrical modeling. In the most recent release of kinship links from two of the NLSY datasets, the direct kinship indicators included in the 2006 surveys allowed successful and unambiguous linking of over 94 % of the potential pairs. In this paper, we provide details for research teams interested in using the NLSY data portfolio to conduct BG (and other family-oriented) research.

The number of sexual partners and health-risking sexual behavior: prediction from high school entry to high school exit.

Precursors to adolescent health-risking sexual behavior (HRSB) were examined in a normative sample of 373 adolescents (48.0% female, n = 178). Using a variable-oriented approach, we regressed the number of sexual partners at high school exit (age 17) on parental monitoring, association with delinquent peers, romantic relationship status, problem behavior, physical maturity, and tobacco and alcohol use at high school entry (age 14); all emerged as significant predictors except alcohol use and physical maturity (we found sex differences in physical maturity and romantic relationship status, with females being more advanced in both areas). Sexual experimentation at high school entry served to partially or fully mediate the impact of these factors. A person-oriented approach, using a broader measure of HRSB, found three subgroups of adolescents: abstainers, low-risk-takers, and high-risk-takers. Results predicting membership in these groups generally followed those from the variable-oriented analysis. Implications for the prevention of HRSB and future research directions are discussed.

Child maltreatment and foster care: unpacking the effects of prenatal and postnatal parental substance use.

Parental substance use is a well-documented risk for children. However, little is known about specific effects of prenatal and postnatal substance use on child maltreatment and foster care placement transitions. In this study, the authors unpacked unique effects of (a) prenatal and postnatal parental alcohol and drug use and (b) maternal and paternal substance use as predictors of child maltreatment and foster care placement transitions in a sample of 117 maltreated foster care children. Models were tested with structural equation path modeling. Results indicated that prenatal maternal alcohol use predicted child maltreatment and that combined prenatal maternal alcohol and drug use predicted foster care placement transitions. Prenatal maternal alcohol and drug use also predicted postnatal paternal alcohol and drug use, which in turn predicted foster care placement transitions. Findings highlight the potential integrative role that maternal and paternal substance use has on the risk for child maltreatment and foster care placement transitions.

Steroid receptor coactivators 1, 2, and 3: critical regulators of nuclear receptor activity and steroid receptor modulator (SRM)-based cancer therapy.

Coactivators are a diverse group of non-DNA binding proteins that induce structural changes in agonist-bound nuclear receptors (NRs) that are essential for NR-mediated transcriptional activation. Once bound, coactivators function to bridge enhancer binding proteins to the general transcription machinery, as well as to recruit secondary coactivators that modify promoter and enhancer chromatin in a manner permissive for transcriptional activation. In the following review article, we focus on one of the most in-depth studied families of coactivators, the steroid receptor coactivators (SRC) 1, 2, and 3. SRCs are widely implicated in NR-mediated diseases, especially in cancers, with the majority of studies focused on their roles in breast cancer. We highlight the relevant literature supporting the oncogenic activity of SRCs and their future as diagnostic and prognostic indicators. With much interest in the development of selective receptor modulators (SRMs), we focus on how these coactivators regulate the interactions between SRMs and their respective NRs; and, importantly, the influence that coactivators have on the functional output of SRMs. Furthermore, we speculate that coactivator-specific inhibitors could provide powerful, all-encompassing treatments that target multiple modes of oncogenic regulation in cancers resistant to typical anti-endocrine treatments.