A 16 year-old teenager with acne on his cheek.

Acne is known to be partly hereditary. Several factors are known to be linked to acne:

• Family/Genetic history. The tendency to develop acne runs in families. For example, school-age boys with acne often have other members in their family with acne as well. A family history of acne is associated with an earlier occurrence of acne and an increased number of retentional acne lesions.^[11]
• Hormonal activity, such as menstrual cycles and puberty. During puberty, an increase in male sex hormones called androgens cause the follicular glands to grow larger and make more sebum.^[12]