We’re looking for exceptional undergraduate and graduate interns this summer!

A new IMPACT Program White Paper reports on eight areas where LGBT Youth in Chicago face health disparities – and how to take action.

A brief look back at the 2012 LGBTQ Health and Wellness Conference.

Qualitative and quantitative data on Internet use.

How do you heart your sexuality?!

Check out our latest video with Laura Kuper to learn more about the recent IMPACT publication, published in the Journal of Sex Research.

IMPACT Program graduate student Laura Kuper was awarded first place for her paper in the UIC Lavender Research Forum 2012.

Meet the IMPACT Team! Learn more about who we are, what we do, and how we do it.

Abstract
The authors assessed the association of 2 personality dimensions with use and abuse of alcohol in 1,320 twin pairs concordantly reporting nonabstinence at age 18.5 years. The 2 alcohol outcomes differentially relate to the 2 personality dimensions: Alcohol-related problems correlate more highly with social deviance than with excitement seeking (ES), and alcohol consumption correlates more highly with ES than with social deviance. Biometric models fit to the data identified similar patterns in genetic covariance, although differences were more evident in genetic correlations between social deviance and alcohol outcomes than in those for ES. Results suggest that genetic influences underlie the association of personality with alcohol use and subsequent problems and illustrate the utility of informative twin analyses in exploring links between genes, personality, and behavior disorder.

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Mustanski, B., Dupree, M.G., Nievergelt, C.M., Bocklandt, S., Schork, N.J., Hamer, D.H. (2005). Genetic … Read More »

Abstract
To study sources of individual differences in pubertal development, the authors fit a sex-limitation common factor model to data reported, at ages 11 and 14 years, by 1,891 twin pairs on items that comprise the Pubertal Development Scale (PDS; A. C. Petersen, L. Crockett, M. Richards, & A. Boxer, 1988). The model divides variation into a general pubertal factor and item-specific variation and, in addition, decomposes it into constituent sources. In both boys and girls, genetic influences made the largest contribution to variance common to PDS items. Genetic and nonshared environmental factors accounted for variation specific to PDS items in boys, whereas for girls, common environmental influences were added for growth spurt and menarcheal status. For both common and item-specific variation, genetic effects were partially sex specific. Subsidiary analyses found accelerated maturation in both boys and girls who … Read More »