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Background We sought to clarify the impact of adolescent alcohol misuse on adult physical health and subjective well-being. To do so, we investigated both the direct associations between adolescent alcohol misuse and early midlife physical health and life satisfaction and the indirect effects on these outcomes attributable to subsequent alcohol problems. Method The sample included 2733 twin pairs (32% monozygotic; 52% female) from the FinnTwin16 study. Adolescent alcohol misuse was a composite of frequency of drunkenness, frequency of alcohol use, and alcohol problems at ages 16, 17, and 18.5. The early midlife outcomes included somatic symptoms, self-rated health, and life satisfaction at age 34. The mediators examined as part of the indirect effect analyses included alcohol problems from the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index at ages 24 and 34. Serial mediation and co-twin comparison models were applied and included covariates from adolescence and early midlife. Results There were weak direct associations between adolescent alcohol misuse and early midlife physical health and life satisfaction. However, there was stronger evidence for indirect effects, whereby young adult and early midlife alcohol problems serially mediated the relationship between adolescent alcohol misuse and early midlife somatic symptoms (beta = 0.03, 95% CI [0.03, 0.04]), self-rated health (beta = -0.02, 95% CI [-0.03, -0.01]), and life satisfaction (beta = -0.03, CI [-0.04, -0.02]). These serial mediation effects were robust in co-twin comparison analyses. Conclusions These results provide evidence that alcohol problems are a primary driver linking adolescent alcohol misuse and poor health outcomes across the lifespan.

OBJECTIVE: To examine associations between alcohol use disorder (AUD), its psychiatric comorbidities, and their interactions, with marital outcomes in a diverse high-risk, genetically informative sample. METHOD: Participants included European ancestry (EA, n=4045) and African ancestry (AA, n=1550) individuals from the multigenerational COGA sample (56% female, M(age) ~ 41 years). Outcomes were lifetime marriage and divorce. Predictors included lifetime AUD, an alcohol problems polygenic score, and AUD comorbidities, including antisocial personality disorder (ASP), cannabis dependence/abuse (CAN), frequent tobacco use (TOB), and major depressive disorder (MDD). Mixed effect Cox models and generalized linear mixed effects models were fit. RESULTS: Among EA participants, those with AUD and CAN were less likely to marry (hazard ratios [HR] 0.70–0.83, ps < 0.01). Among AA participants, those with AUD and TOB were less likely to marry (HRs 0.66–0.82, ps < 0.05) and those with MDD were more likely to marry (HR = 1.34, p < 0.01). Among EA participants, AUD, CAN, TOB, and MDD were associated with higher odds of divorce (ORs 1.59–2.21, ps < 0.01). Among AA participants, no predictors were significantly associated with divorce. Significant random effects indicated genetic and environmental influences on marriage, but only environmental factors on divorce. CONCLUSIONS: In a high-risk sample, alcohol use disorder was associated with reduced likelihood of marriage in European and African ancestry individuals, and increased risk of divorce in European ancestry individuals. These associations were largely independent of comorbidities. Genetic and environmental background factors contributed to marriage, while only environmental background factors contributed to divorce.

BACKGROUND: Identifying factors influencing substance use among racial/ethnic minorities (REM) is important given the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this population. OBJECTIVES: We examined factors in four domains and hypothesized that poor mental health, negative coping behaviors, negative environmental aspects, and belonging to more vulnerable social groups would be associated with increased substance use during the pandemic. METHODS: Multiple regression was applied to longitudinal data from a college sample assessed prior (fall 2017 to spring 2019) and during (spring 2020) the pandemic (n=323; 81.5% cisgender women; 34.5% African-American, 36.1% Asian-American, 15.5% Hispanic/Latinx, 11.8% multi-racial) to identify factors predicting current alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine use frequency (spring 2020) and change in frequency of use between springs 2019 and 2020. RESULTS: While infrequent substance use (monthly or less) decreased during the pandemic, abstinence rates increased (alcohol 39%; cannabis 18%; nicotine 18%) and higher-frequency alcohol use increased (207%-1600% 2–3 times+/week) compared to spring 2019. The strongest protective factor was change in living situation during the pandemic, associated with lower current alcohol and cannabis use. Risk factors included a history of trouble with police and impulsivity since the pandemic, both associated with higher current and increased alcohol and cannabis use. REM did not differ on most factors and the outcomes. However, a higher percentage of Asian-Americans than other REM reported living situation changes. CONCLUSION: Substance use rates diverged during the pandemic, with both increased abstinence and higher-frequency use, attributed mostly to mental health and environmental domain factors with few REM differences.

Higher parental educational attainment is associated with higher offspring educational attainment. In this study, we incorporated genotypic and phenotypic information from fathers, mothers, and offspring to disentangle the genetic and socioenvironmental pathways underlying this association. Data were drawn from a sample of individuals of European ancestry from the collaborative study on the genetics of alcoholism (

OBJECTIVE The current study tested direct and indirect associations between racial discrimination and civic engagement via emotion regulation strategies. Differences between males and females were also explored. METHOD African American college students (76% female; Mage = 18.42) participating in a university-wide research study provided self-reports of their racial discrimination experiences, use of emotion regulation strategies, and civic engagement attitudes and beliefs. RESULTS Greater racial discrimination was associated with less use of reappraisal (i.e., thinking about emotions in a different way) and, in turn, use of reappraisal was associated with greater civic engagement attitudes. The same association was found for civic engagement behaviors. However, reappraisal was associated with greater civic engagement behaviors for females and less civic engagement behaviors for males. CONCLUSION The current study highlights the need to consider the role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on college students' sociopolitical development and civic engagement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

BACKGROUND. Alcohol use/misuse is a costly public health problem, particularly among college students in the US. Alcohol use tends to increase during adolescence and peaks in the early/mid twenties; however, there is significant heterogeneity among alcohol use during the college years. Several studies applying a mixture modeling framework to extract latent profiles of alcohol consumption have been conducted. However, none to our knowledge have included only those exposed to trauma, a group known to be at risk for alcohol misuse. The aims of this longitudinal study (n=1186) were to identify profiles of alcohol consumption and their associations with demographic and trauma-related constructs. METHOD. Data were collected from a larger study of college students attending a large public university. Participants in the current study were on average 18.46 years old at study entry, primarily female (69.6%), and of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (e.g., 48.8% White, 20.4% Black, 16.8% Asian). RESULTS. Results suggest evidence for four latent profiles. These classes include an initially high increasing, an initially high decreasing, an initially low decreasing, and an initially low increasing, the last of which had not been previously found. Using analyses of variance, profile membership was associated with number of traumas, probable Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, broad drinking motives as well as trauma-specific drinking to cope motives. CONCLUSIONS. Results suggest that drinking motives and trauma-related factors are important correlates of these latent alcohol profiles. Work clarifying the longitudinal inter-relations between profile membership and these factors is needed to help inform more effective prevention and intervention efforts.

Prior studies have demonstrated that sexual minority college students are two to four times more likely to experience sexual victimization (e.g., sexual assault and/or unwanted or uncomfortable sexual experiences) compared to their heterosexual counterparts. However, research that has focused on the detrimental effects of sexual victimization on health outcomes has paid more attention to heterosexual college samples and community-based adults. Understanding how sexual victimization influences mental health and substance use outcomes among lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and asexual (LGBQA) emerging adults in college is warranted given that this developmental period represents a critical risk period for trauma exposure, risk behavior, and psychological distress. Thus, the current study tested how sexual victimization was associated with depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms among 234 diverse college students who self-identified as LGBQA. Additionally, social support was tested as a moderator. Findings indicated that sexual victimization was related to greater depressive symptoms, PTSD symptoms, and AUD symptoms. In addition, perceived social support moderated the relation between sexual victimization and depressive symptoms, however, in a direction contrary to hypotheses. In particular, higher sexual victimization was associated with greater depressive symptoms among LGBQA students with higher levels of social support ( b = .29, p = .00), and was not significant among LGBQA students with lower levels of social support ( b = .13, p = .26). The current study highlights the need to consider the detrimental effects of sexual victimization on health outcomes among LGBQA college students, as well as the mechanisms through which social support may be influencing these relations.

BACKGROUND: Aggression often occurs alongside alcohol and drug misuse. However, it is not clear whether the latent and manifest relations among alcohol-related, drug-related, and non-substance-related aggression are separate manifestations of a single construct or instead are three distinct constructs. METHODS: To examine these associations, we conducted a preregistered analysis of 13,490 participants in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). In a structured interview, participants reported their lifetime perpetration of these three aggression phenotypes. RESULTS: The data were better fit by a model that treated these aggression phenotypes as three distinct latent factors, as compared to models in which the items all loaded onto one (‘general’) or two (‘substance-related’ and ‘non-substance-related’) aggression factors. This three factor model fit better for men than women. Subsequent exploratory analyses then showed that among these three factors, alcohol-related aggression explained the variance of overall aggression better than the other two factors. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that these three forms of aggression are distinct phenotypes (especially among men). Yet, people’s alcohol-related aggression can accurately characterize their overall aggressive tendencies across these domains. Future research will benefit from articulating the unique and shared pathways and risk factors underlying each of these facets of aggression.

Objectives The present study sought to fill a gap in the current literature by developing a concise self-report questionnaire assessing drinking motives specific to coping with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This new four-item questionnaire is called the Trauma Related Drinking questionnaire (TRD). Method Using structural equation modeling, the latent structure of the TRD items and how they relate to other variables of interest were explored among a sample of 1,896 college undergraduates from a large public university. Results Broadly, we found evidence to suggest that TRD is a more specific measure of drinking to cope motives compared to the commonly used Drinking Motives Questionnaire coping subscale. Additionally, findings demonstrate support for the external validation of TRD, both with regard to PTSD and alcohol consumption and related problems. Conclusions Results support the use of TRD in future self-medication research and as a clinically useful screening tool.

Shared genetic factors contribute to the high degree of comorbidity among externalizing problems (e.g. substance use and antisocial behavior). We leverage this common genetic etiology to identify genetic influences externalizing problems in participants from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (European ancestry = 7,568; African ancestry = 3,274). We performed a family-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) on externalizing scores derived from criterion counts of five DSM disorders (alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse, illicit drug dependence, illicit drug abuse, and either antisocial personality disorder or conduct disorder). We meta analyzed these results with a similar measure of externalizing in an independent sample, Spit for Science (combined sample N = 15,112). We did not discover any robust genome-wide significant signals. Polygenic scores derived from the ancestry-specific GWAS summary statistics predicted externalizing problems in an independent European ancestry sample, but not in those of African ancestry. However, these PRS were no longer significant after adjusting for multiple testing. Larger samples with deep phenotyping are necessary for the discovery of SNPs related to externalizing problems.

Background There are gaps in the literature on service use (help-seeking and treatment utilization) for alcohol problems among those with alcohol use disorder (AUD). First, policy changes and cultural shifts (e.g., insurance) related to AUD have occurred over the last few decades, making it important to study generational differences. Second, multiple studies have found that females receive fewer services than males, and exploring whether these sex differences persist across generations can inform public health and research endeavors. The current study examined service use for alcohol problems among individuals with AUD. The aims were as follows: (i) to describe service use for alcohol problems; (ii) to assess generational differences (silent [b. 1928 to 1945], boomer [b. 1946 to 1964], generation X [b. 1965 to 1980], millennial [b. 1981 to 1996]) in help-seeking and treatment utilization; and (iii) to examine sex differences across generations. Methods Data were from affected family members of probands who participated in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (N = 4,405). First, frequencies for service use variables were calculated across generations. Pearson chi-square and ANOVA were used to test for differences in rates and types of service use across generations, taking familial clustering into account. Next, Cox survival modeling was used to assess associations of generation and sex with time to first help-seeking and first treatment for AUD, and time from first onset of AUD to first help-seeking and first treatment. Interactions between generation and sex were tested within each Cox regression. Results Significant hazards were found in all 4 transitions. Overall, younger generations used services earlier than older generations, which translated into higher likelihoods of these behaviors. Regardless of generation, younger females were less likely to use services than males. Conclusions There are generational and sex differences in service use for alcohol problems among individuals with AUD. Policy and clinical implications are discussed.

Little research exists into the trends associated with on-campus service utilization for mental health concerns of college students. Rates of broad service utilization exist, but no published study has examined the direct relationship between a range of common mental health symptoms and on-campus service utilization. The aims of the present study are to explore (1) which common mental health concerns are associated with specific on-campus service utilization in undergraduate students and (2) whether endorsement of more mental health concerns will predict a higher number of services utilized. Data were utilized from 3,734 undergraduates at a large (more than 20,000 undergraduates), urban university (Mage = 19.94 years, SD = 0.55 years; female = 66%). Four on-campus services (University Counseling Services, University Health Services, The Wellness Resource Center, and Disability Support Services) were regressed onto mental health concerns associated with symptoms of three disorders (anxiety, depression, alcohol use disorder [AUD]) and two mental health risk factors (stressful life events [SLEs], antisocial behaviors [ASBs]). AUD symptoms predicted the most overall and specific service utilization, followed by depression symptoms and SLEs. Anxiety symptoms and ASBs were not significant predictors when combined with other variables. This is the first study to investigate trends specific to on-campus college student service utilization. Findings will be helpful to mental health professionals on similar college campuses by providing insight into programming and outreach initiatives for these or related services. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Prior research shows that Black/African American adults experience more negative alcohol use consequences than White adults, despite lower alcohol consumption. Research also shows that Black/African Americans experience higher rates of depression, which can increase risk for alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD) through drinking to cope. We examined associations between depressive symptoms and drinking to cope with alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms among White and Black/African American college students.Participants completed an online survey during the fall and spring semester of their first year of college (N = 2,168, 62.8% female, 75.8% White). Path analyses were conducted to examine whether depressive symptoms and drinking to cope mediated the association between race/ethnicity and alcohol use outcomes, and whether race/ethnicity moderated the associations between depressive symptoms, drinking to cope, and alcohol use outcomes.Results indicated that Black/African Americans had lower levels of depressive symptoms, which were associated with lower drinking to cope, and in turn associated with lower alcohol consumption and AUD symptoms. Multigroup analysis indicated that the pattern of associations between depressive symptoms, drinking to cope, and alcohol use outcomes were largely similar between White and Black/African American college students and between males and females, except that the association between depressive symptoms and drinking to cope appeared to be stronger for Whites than for Black/African American students.Depressive symptoms and drinking to cope are risk factors in relation to alcohol use outcomes among White and Black/African American college students and partially account for the link between race/ethnicity and alcohol use outcomes.Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2022.2034871 .

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed fundamental challenges on nearly every area of life.The purpose of the current study was to expand on the literature on the impact of the pandemic on college students by a) examining domains of impact of the pandemic on psychiatric and alcohol outcomes and b) controlling for pre-pandemic outcomes.Participants included 897 college students (78.6% female) from a larger longitudinal study on college student mental health. Structural equation models were fit to examine how COVID-19 impact (exposure, worry, food/housing insecurity, change in social media use, change in substance use) were associated with PTSD, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and alcohol phenotypes. Models were fit to adjust for pre-pandemic symptoms.No effects ofDomains of COVID-19 impact had differential effects on mental health and substance outcomes in college students during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Future studies should examine the trajectory of these factors on college student mental health across waves of the pandemic.

Genetic effects on alcohol use can vary over time but are often examined using longitudinal models that predict a distal outcome at a single time point. The vast majority of these studies predominately examine effects using White, European American (EA) samples or examine the etiology of genetic variants identified from EA samples in other racial/ethnic populations, leading to inconclusive findings about genetic effects on alcohol use. The current study examined how genetic influences on alcohol use varied by age across a 15 year period within a diverse ethnic/racial sample of adolescents. Using a multi-ethnic approach, polygenic risk scores were created for African American (AA, n = 192) and EA samples (n = 271) based on racially/ethnically aligned genome wide association studies. Age-varying associations between polygenic scores and alcohol use were examined from age 16 to 30 using time-varying effect models separately for AA and EA samples. Polygenic risk for alcohol use was found to be associated with alcohol use from age 22–27 in the AA sample and from age 24.50 to 29 in the EA sample. Results are discussed relative to the intersection of alcohol use and developmental genetic effects in diverse populations.

Co-twin comparisons address familial confounding by controlling for genetic and environmental influences that twin siblings share. We applied the co-twin comparison design to investigate associations of adolescent factors with alcohol dependence (AD) symptoms. Participants were 1286 individuals (581 complete twin pairs; 42% monozygotic; and 54% female) from the FinnTwin12 study. Predictors included adolescent academic achievement, substance use, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, executive functioning, peer environment, physical health, relationship with parents, alcohol expectancies, life events, and pubertal development. The outcome was lifetime AD clinical criterion count, as measured in young adulthood. We examined associations of each adolescent domain with AD symptoms in individual-level and co-twin comparison analyses. In individual-level analyses, adolescents with higher levels of substance use, teacher-reported externalizing problems at age 12, externalizing problems at age 14, self- and co-twin-reported internalizing problems, peer deviance, and perceived difficulty of life events reported more symptoms of AD in young adulthood (ps < .044). Conversely, individuals with higher academic achievement, social adjustment, self-rated health, and parent–child relationship quality met fewer AD clinical criteria (ps < .024). Associations between adolescent substance use, teacher-reported externalizing problems, co-twin-reported internalizing problems, peer deviance, self-rated health, and AD symptoms were of a similar magnitude in co-twin comparisons. We replicated many well-known adolescent correlates of later alcohol problems, including academic achievement, substance use, externalizing and internalizing problems, self-rated health, and features of the peer environment and parent–child relationship. Furthermore, we demonstrate the utility of co-twin comparisons for understanding pathways to AD. Effect sizes corresponding to the associations between adolescent substance use, teacher-reported externalizing problems, co-twin-reported internalizing problems, peer deviance, and self-rated health were not significantly attenuated (p value threshold = .05) after controlling for genetic and environmental influences that twin siblings share, highlighting these factors as candidates for further research.

Many studies demonstrate that marriage protects against risky alcohol use and moderates genetic influences on alcohol outcomes; however, previous work has not considered these effects from a developmental perspective or in high-risk individuals. These represent important gaps, as it cannot be assumed that marriage has uniform effects across development or in high-risk samples. We took a longitudinal developmental approach to examine whether marital status was associated with heavy episodic drinking (HED), and whether marital status moderated polygenic influences on HED. Our sample included 937 individuals (53.25% female) from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism who reported their HED and marital status biennially between the ages of 21 and 25. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were derived from a genome-wide association study of alcohol consumption. Marital status was not associated with HED; however, we observed pathogenic gene-by-environment effects that changed across young adulthood. Among those who married young (age 21), individuals with higher PRS reported more HED; however, these effects decayed over time. The same pattern was found in supplementary analyses using parental history of alcohol use disorder as the index of genetic liability. Our findings indicate that early marriage may exacerbate risk for those with higher polygenic load.

Genetic predispositions play an important role in alcohol use. Understanding the psychosocial mechanisms through which genetic risk unfolds to influence alcohol use outcomes is critical for identifying modifiable targets and developing prevention and intervention efforts. In this study, we examined the role of sensation seeking and social support from family and friends in linking genetic risk to alcohol use. We also examined the role of social support in moderating the associations between genetic risk and sensation seeking and alcohol use. Data were drawn from a sample of 2,836 European American adults from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (46% male, mean age = 35.65, standard deviation [SD] = 10.78). Results from path analysis indicated that genome-wide polygenic scores for alcohol consumption (alc-GPS) were associated with higher sensation seeking, which in turn was associated with higher levels of alcohol use. alc-GPS was also associated with higher alcohol use indirectly via lower levels of family support. In addition, high friend support attenuated the association between alc-GPS and sensation seeking and alcohol use. The pattern of associations was similar for males and females, with some differences in the associations between social support and alcohol use observed across age. Our findings highlight the important role of intermediate phenotypes and gene-environment interplay in the pathways of risk from genetic predispositions to complex alcohol use outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Cannabis use and disorders (CUD) are influenced by multiple genetic variants of small effect and by the psychosocial environment. However, this information has not been effectively incorporated into studies of gene–environment interaction (GxE). Polygenic risk scores (PRS) that aggregate the effects of genetic variants can aid in identifying the links between genetic risk and psychosocial factors. Using data from the Pasman et al. GWAS of cannabis use (meta-analysis of data from the International Cannabis Consortium and UK Biobank), we constructed PRS in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) participants of European (N: 7591) and African (N: 3359) ancestry. The primary analyses included only individuals of European ancestry, reflecting the ancestral composition of the discovery GWAS from which the PRS was derived. Secondary analyses included the African ancestry sample. Associations of PRS with cannabis use and DSM-5 CUD symptom count (CUDsx) and interactions with trauma exposure and frequency of religious service attendance were examined. Models were adjusted for sex, birth cohort, genotype array, and ancestry. Robustness models were adjusted for cross-term interactions. Higher PRS were associated with a greater likelihood of cannabis use and with CUDsx among participants of European ancestry (p p R2: 0.011 among the trauma exposed vs. R2: 0.002 in unexposed). PRS less consistently influenced cannabis use among those who attend religious services less frequently; PRS × religious service attendance effects were attenuated when cross-term interactions with ancestry and sex were included in the model. Polygenic liability to cannabis use was related to cannabis use and, less robustly, progression to symptoms of CUD. This study provides the first evidence of PRS × trauma for cannabis use and demonstrates that ignoring important aspects of the psychosocial environment may mask genetic influences on polygenic traits.

Previous research suggests that genetic risk factors may predispose to conduct problems and alcohol use in adolescence. Whether genetic risk factors interact with social contexts has not been well characterized among African American adolescents. Data came from a subsample of the Genes, Environment, and Neighborhood Initiative study comprising 501 African American adolescents, including 151 lifetime drinkers (56% female, mean age = 16.3, SD = 1.4). Genetic risk was assessed with polygenic risk scores for alcohol dependence. Analyses explored interactions between genetic risk and self-reported alcohol use, conduct problems, life stressors, and other covariates. The effects of two gene-environment interactions (G × E) were tested in the sample of alcohol exposed adolescents; one on conduct problems and the other on alcohol use. There were significant associations between polygenic risk for alcohol dependence and conduct problems. A significant G × E interaction showed the impact of genetic risk on conduct problems was stronger under conditions of high exposure to family and neighborhood stressors. Among this sample of African American adolescents, genetic risk for alcohol dependence was not directly associated with alcohol use but was related to more conduct problems. Further, the effect of genetic risk interacted with stressors from the family and neighborhood, so that the effect of genetic risk on conduct problems was stronger for individuals who reported greater stressors.

We analyzed how the effects of genetic and environmental factors on the perceptions of family interaction change from early to late adolescence. The data were collected by postal surveys on Finnish twins (N = 4808) at 12, 14 and 17 years of age and analyzed using genetic twin modeling. Additive genetic factors explained a modest share of the variation in perceived relational support (a2 = 0.30 in boys and 0.18 in girls) and relational tensions (a2 = 0.13 and 0.14, respectively) at 12 years of age, with the proportions becoming larger through 17 years of age (a2 = 0.53 in boys and 0.49 in girls for relational support; a2 = 0.35 in boys and 0.33 in girls for relational tensions). Simultaneously, the role of environment shared by co-twins decreased. These findings suggest that the associations between perceived family interaction and other factors in adulthood should be interpreted with caution, because they partly reflect genetic background, whereas in childhood, they may provide more reliable information on parental characteristics. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10519-019-09960-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This study investigated internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and polydrug use among African-American youth residing in high-poverty neighborhoods, and tested the potential protective effects of religiosity, parental monitoring, and neighborhood collective efficacy on life stress and behavioral health outcomes (N = 576; 307 females; Mage = 16 years, SD = 1.44 years). A cumulative risk index reflected the combined effects of past year exposure to stressful life events, racial discrimination, and exposure to violence along with poor neighborhood ecology. Structural equation modeling revealed that cumulative risk significantly predicted internalizing problems, externalizing problems, and polydrug use. Interaction tests showed that the association of cumulative risk with internalizing problems was buffered by adolescent religiosity and neighborhood collective efficacy. The association of cumulative risk with externalizing problems was buffered by parental monitoring and collective efficacy. Adolescent sex further moderated these effects. The findings of the present study collectively highlight potential for protective factors to buffer effects of cumulative risk on behavioral health outcomes among youth residing in high-risk neighborhoods.

Author(s): Johnson, Emma C; Tillman, Rebecca; Aliev, Fazil; Meyers, Jacquelyn L; Salvatore, Jessica E; Anokhin, Andrey P; Dick, Danielle M; Edenberg, Howard J; Kramer, John R; Kuperman, Samuel; McCutcheon, Vivia V; Nurnberger, John I; Porjesz, Bernice; Schuckit, Marc A; Tischfield, Jay; Bucholz, Kathleen K; Agrawal, Arpana | Abstract: Background and aimsFew studies have explored how polygenic propensity to cannabis use unfolds across development, and no studies have yet examined this question in the context of environmental contributions such as peer cannabis use. Outlining the factors that contribute to progression from cannabis initiation to problem use over time may ultimately provide insights into mechanisms for targeted interventions. We sought to examine the relationships between polygenic liability for cannabis use, cannabis use trajectories from ages 12-30 years and perceived peer cannabis use at ages 12-17 years.DesignMixed-effect logistic and linear regressions were used to examine associations between polygenic risk scores, cannabis use trajectory membership and perceived peer cannabis use.SettingUnited States.ParticipantsFrom the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) study, a cohort of 1167 individuals aged 12-26 years at their baseline (i.e. first) interview.MeasurementsKey measurements included life-time cannabis use (yes/no), frequency of past 12-month cannabis use, maximum life-time frequency of cannabis use, cannabis use disorder (using DSM-5 criteria) and perceived peer cannabis use. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) were created using summary statistics from a large (n = 162 082) genome-wide association study (GWAS) of cannabis use.FindingsThree trajectories reflecting no/low (n = 844), moderate (n = 137) and high (n = 186) use were identified. PRS were significantly associated with trajectory membership [P = 0.002-0.006, maximum conditional R2 = 1.4%, odds ratios (ORs) = 1.40-1.49]. Individuals who reported that most/all of their best friends used cannabis had significantly higher PRS than those who reported that none of their friends were users [OR = 1.35, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.04, 1.75, P = 0.023]. Perceived peer use itself explained up to 11.3% of the variance in trajectory class membership (OR = 1.50-4.65). When peer cannabis use and the cannabis use PRS were entered into the model simultaneously, both the PRS and peer use continued to be significantly associated with class membership (P l 0.01).ConclusionsGenetic propensity to cannabis use derived from heterogeneous samples appears to correlate with longitudinal increases in cannabis use frequency in young adults.

Childhood aggressive behavior (AGG) has a substantial heritability of around 50%. Here we present a genome-wide association meta-analysis (GWAMA) of childhood AGG, in which all phenotype measures across childhood ages from multiple assessors were included. We analyzed phenotype assessments for a total of 328 935 observations from 87 485 children aged between 1.5 and 18 years, while accounting for sample overlap. We also meta-analyzed within subsets of the data, i.e., within rater, instrument and age. SNP-heritability for the overall meta-analysis (AGGoverall) was 3.31% (SE = 0.0038). We found no genome-wide significant SNPs for AGGoverall. The gene-based analysis returned three significant genes: ST3GAL3 (P = 1.6E–06), PCDH7 (P = 2.0E–06), and IPO13 (P = 2.5E–06). All three genes have previously been associated with educational traits. Polygenic scores based on our GWAMA significantly predicted aggression in a holdout sample of children (variance explained = 0.44%) and in retrospectively assessed childhood aggression (variance explained = 0.20%). Genetic correlations (rg) among rater-specific assessment of AGG ranged from rg = 0.46 between self- and teacher-assessment to rg = 0.81 between mother- and teacher-assessment. We obtained moderate-to-strong rgs with selected phenotypes from multiple domains, but hardly with any of the classical biomarkers thought to be associated with AGG. Significant genetic correlations were observed with most psychiatric and psychological traits (range $$\left| {r_g} \right|$$ r g : 0.19–1.00), except for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aggression had a negative genetic correlation (rg = ~−0.5) with cognitive traits and age at first birth. Aggression was strongly genetically correlated with smoking phenotypes (range $$\left| {r_g} \right|$$ r g : 0.46–0.60). The genetic correlations between aggression and psychiatric disorders were weaker for teacher-reported AGG than for mother- and self-reported AGG. The current GWAMA of childhood aggression provides a powerful tool to interrogate the rater-specific genetic etiology of AGG.

Handedness, a consistent asymmetry in skill or use of the hands, has been studied extensively because of its relationship with language and the over-representation of left-handers in some neurodevelopmental disorders. Using data from the UK Biobank, 23andMe and 32 studies from the International Handedness Consortium, we conducted the world’s largest genome-wide association study of handedness (1,534,836 right-handed, 194,198 (11.0%) left-handed and 37,637 (2.1%) ambidextrous individuals). We found 41 genetic loci associated with left-handedness and seven associated with ambidexterity at genome-wide levels of significance (P < 5×10−8). Tissue enrichment analysis implicated the central nervous system and brain tissues including the hippocampus and cerebrum in the etiology of left-handedness. Pathways including regulation of microtubules, neurogenesis, axonogenesis and hippocampus morphology were also highlighted. We found suggestive positive genetic correlations between being left-handed and some neuropsychiatric traits including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. SNP heritability analyses indicated that additive genetic effects of genotyped variants explained 5.9% (95% CI = 5.8% – 6.0%) of the underlying liability of being left-handed, while the narrow sense heritability was estimated at 12% (95% CI = 7.2% – 17.7%). Further, we show that genetic correlation between left-handedness and ambidexterity is low (rg = 0.26; 95% CI = 0.08 – 0.43) implying that these traits are largely influenced by different genetic mechanisms. In conclusion, our findings suggest that handedness, like many other complex traits is highly polygenic, and that the genetic variants that predispose to left-handedness may underlie part of the association with some psychiatric disorders that has been observed in multiple observational studies.

Risky behaviors, such as substance use and unprotected sex, are associated with various physical and mental health problems. Recent genome‐wide association studies indicated that variation in the cell adhesion molecule 2 (CADM2) gene plays a role in risky behaviors and self‐control. In this phenome‐wide scan for risky behavior, it was tested if underlying common vulnerability could be (partly) explained by pleiotropic effects of this gene and how large the effects were. Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)‐level and gene‐level association tests within four samples (25 and Up, Spit for Science, Netherlands Twin Register, and UK Biobank and meta‐analyses over all samples (combined sample of 362,018 participants) were conducted to test associations between CADM2, substance‐ and sex‐related risk behaviors, and various measures related to self‐control. We found significant associations between the CADM2 gene, various risky behaviors, and different measures of self‐control. The largest effect sizes were found for cannabis use, sensation seeking, and disinhibition. Effect sizes ranged from 0.01% to 0.26% for single top SNPs and from 0.07% to 3.02% for independent top SNPs together, with sufficient power observed only in the larger samples and meta‐analyses. In the largest cohort, we found indications that risk‐taking proneness mediated the association between CADM2 and latent factors for lifetime smoking and regular alcohol use. This study extends earlier findings that CADM2 plays a role in risky behaviors and self‐control. It also provides insight into gene‐level effect sizes and demonstrates the feasibility of testing mediation. These findings present a good starting point for investigating biological etiological pathways underlying risky behaviors., CADM2 plays a role in risky behaviors and self‐control. This contributes to unravelling the biological etiological pathways underlying risky behaviors.

Between April 20, 2020 and June 19, 2020 we conducted a survey of the membership of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) to explore the impact of COVID-19 on their research and academic careers. A total of 123 individuals responded representing academic ranks from trainee to full professor, tenured and fixed-term appointments, and all genders. The survey included both quantitative and free text responses. Results revealed considerable concern about the impact of COVID-19 on research with the greatest concern reported by individuals in non-permanent positions and female researchers. Concerns about the availability of funding and the impact of the pandemic on career progression were commonly reported by early career researchers. We provide recommendations for institutions, organizations such as the PGC, as well as individual senior investigators to ensure that the futures of early career investigators, especially those underrepresented in academic medicine such as women and underrepresented minorities, are not disproportionately disadvantaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction Family history (FH) of alcohol dependence is likely to increase the risk of trauma exposure, post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and alcohol dependence. FH of alcohol dependence and trauma has been separately shown to adversely affect planning/problem‐solving aspects of executive function. However, few studies have examined these risk factors in an integrated model. Methods Using data from trauma‐exposed individuals from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism prospective cohort (N = 1,860), comprising offspring from alcohol‐dependent high‐risk and comparison families (mean age [SE] = 21.9 [4.2]), we investigated associations of trauma (nonsexual assaultive, nonassaultive, sexual assaultive) with DSM‐IV PTSD and alcohol dependence symptom counts, and planning/problem‐solving abilities assessed using the Tower of London Test (TOLT). Moderating effects of family history density of alcohol use disorder (FHD) on these associations and sex differences were explored. Results Family history density was positively associated with PTSD in female participants who endorsed a sexual assaultive trauma. Exposure to nonsexual assaultive trauma was associated with more excess moves made on the TOLT. Conclusion Findings from this study demonstrate associations with PTSD and alcohol dependence symptom counts, as well as poor problem‐solving ability in trauma‐exposed individuals from families densely affected with alcohol dependence, depending on trauma type, FHD, and sex. This suggests that having a FH of alcohol dependence and exposure to trauma during adolescence may be associated with more PTSD and alcohol dependence symptoms, and poor problem‐solving abilities in adulthood., Findings from this study demonstrate associations with PTSD and alcohol dependence symptom counts, as well as poor problem‐solving ability in trauma‐exposed individuals from families densely affected with alcohol dependence, depending on trauma type, FH density of alcoholism, and sex. This suggests that having a FH of alcohol dependence and exposure to trauma during adolescence may be associated with more PTSD and alcohol dependence symptoms, and poor problem‐solving abilities in adulthood.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Research on adolescent predictors of later alcohol misuse is typically conducted on samples of singletons, and associations may be confounded by between-family differences. To address potential confounding, we applied a co-twin comparison design to evaluate whether differences between co-twins in a wide array of adolescent risk factors predicted differences in young adult alcohol misuse. DESIGN: Longitudinal study in which associations between characteristics of the sample as adolescents were used to predict young adult alcohol misuse in individual-level analyses and co-twin comparisons. SETTING: Finland. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3402 individuals (1435 complete twin pairs; 36% monozygotic; 57% female) from the FinnTwin12 study. MEASUREMENTS: The young adult alcohol misuse outcome was a composite score of alcohol use and intoxication frequency. Adolescent predictors included factor scores representing academic performance, substance use, externalizing problems, internalizing problems, peer environment, physical health and relationship with parents; and single measures tapping alcohol expectancies, life events and pubertal development. FINDINGS: In individual-level analyses, individuals with higher adolescent substance use, externalizing problems, time with friends, peer deviance, sports involvement, sleeping difficulties, parental discipline, positive alcohol expectancies and difficulty of life events reported higher alcohol misuse in young adulthood (Ps < 0.019, R(2) = 0.0003–0.0310%). Conversely, those with higher adolescent internalizing problems, parent–child relationship quality and time with parents reported lower alcohol misuse (Ps < 0021, R(2) = 0.0018–0.0093%). The associations with adolescent substance use and alcohol expectancies remained significant in co-twin comparisons (Ps < 0.049, R(2) = 0.0019–0.0314%). Further, academic performance emerged as a significant predictor, such that individuals with higher grades compared with their co-twin reported higher young adult alcohol misuse (Ps < 0.029, R(2) = 0.0449–0.0533%). CONCLUSIONS: Adolescent substance use, positive alcohol expectancies and higher academic performance appear to be robust predictors of later alcohol misuse.

Understanding how ethanol actions on brain signal transduction and gene expression lead to excessive consumption and addiction could identify new treatments for alcohol dependence. We previously identified glycogen synthase kinase 3-beta (Gsk3b) as a member of a highly ethanol-responsive gene network in mouse medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Gsk3b has been implicated in dendritic function, synaptic plasticity and behavioral responses to other drugs of abuse. Here, we investigate Gsk3b in rodent models of ethanol consumption and as a risk factor for human alcohol dependence. Stereotactic viral vector gene delivery overexpression of Gsk3b in mouse mPFC increased 2-bottle choice ethanol consumption, which was blocked by lithium, a known GSK3B inhibitor. Further, Gsk3b overexpression increased anxiety-like behavior following abstinence from ethanol. Protein or mRNA expression studies following Gsk3b over-expression identified synaptojanin 2, brain-derived neurotrophic factor and the neuropeptide Y Y5 receptor as potential downstream factors altering ethanol behaviors. Rat operant studies showed that selective pharmacologic inhibition of GSK3B with TDZD-8 dose-dependently decreased motivation to self-administer ethanol and sucrose and selectively blocked ethanol relapse-like behavior. In set-based and gene-wise genetic association analysis, a GSK3b-centric gene expression network had significant genetic associations, at a gene and network level, with risk for alcohol dependence in humans. These mutually reinforcing cross-species findings implicate GSK3B in neurobiological mechanisms controlling ethanol consumption, and as both a potential risk factor and therapeutic target for alcohol dependence.

Introduction Cigarette use among young adults continues to rise. As young adults transition to college and assume other adult roles and responsibilities, they are at risk for the development of mental health problems and for the progression of substance use problems. Previous studies suggest that individual differences in negative and positive mood contribute to cigarette use in established college-aged smokers, but less is known whether fluctuations in mood influence daily cigarette use, controlling for trait levels of internalizing symptoms and nicotine dependence. Methods Data for this study came from a sample of college students (N = 39, 59% female, mean age 20.4 years) who reported regular cigarette use and participated in a 21-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study assessing within-individual variation in cigarette use and mood. Results A three-level hierarchical linear model accounting for the structure of 1896 occasions of cigarette use nested within days and individuals indicated that within-individual variability in positive mood was associated with cigarette use at each occasion, after taking into account baseline levels of nicotine dependence and internalizing problems. Conclusions Daily shifts in positive moods are importantly associated with consuming cigarettes throughout the day.

Genetic predispositions play an important role in the development of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Understanding the mechanisms through which genetic risk unfolds to influence these developmental outcomes is critical for developing prevention and intervention efforts, capturing key elements of Irv's research agenda and scientific legacy. In this study, we examined the role of parenting and personality in mediating the effect of genetic risk on adolescents’ major depressive disorder and conduct disorder symptoms. Longitudinal data were drawn from a sample of 709 European American adolescents and their mothers from the Collaborative Studies on Genetics of Alcoholism. Results from multivariate path analysis indicated that adolescents’ depressive symptoms genome-wide polygenic scores (DS_GPS) predicted lower parental knowledge, which in turn was associated with more subsequent major depressive disorder and conduct disorder symptoms. Adolescents’ DS_GPS also had indirect effects on these outcomes via personality, with a mediating effect via agreeableness but not via other dimensions of personality. Findings revealed that the pattern of associations was similar across adolescent gender. Our findings emphasize the important role of evocative gene–environment correlation processes and intermediate phenotypes in the pathways of risk from genetic predispositions to complex adolescent outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Parental alcohol problems are associated with adverse adolescent outcomes such as risky drinking and conduct problems. Important questions remain about the unique roles of fathers’ and mothers’ alcohol problems and differences and/or similarities in pathways of risk across ethnicity and gender. In this study, we used a family systems approach to consider spillover and crossover effects of fathers’ and mothers’ alcohol problems (number of alcohol dependence symptoms) and parenting behaviors in relation to adolescents’ risky drinking and conduct problems. METHODS: The sample included 1,282 adolescents (aged 12–17) and their parents from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. Parents completed the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) and adolescents completed an adolescent-version of SSAGA. Data were analyzed using multivariate structural equation modeling. RESULTS: Fathers’ alcohol dependence symptom count was associated with higher adolescent risky drinking and conduct problems indirectly via disruption to fathers’ and mothers’ positive parenting behaviors, whereas mothers’ alcohol dependence symptom count was not associated with adolescents’ risky drinking and conduct problems directly or indirectly via positive parenting behaviors. No differences in these associations were found across ethnic background and offspring gender. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of considering the unique roles of fathers’ and mothers’ alcohol dependence symptoms in influencing family processes and adolescent outcomes.

One of Irving I. Gottesman's many contributions to behavior genetics, and part of his enduring legacy, was his introduction of the term ‘endophenotype’ to the field of psychiatry. Gottesman argued that focusing on endophenotypes, rather than complex heterogeneous clinical diagnoses, could help elucidate disease etiology. Although a different strategy for gene identification ultimately proved successful (that of amassing extremely large sample sizes in order to overcome the ‘noise’ of heterogeneity and have sufficient power to find genes of very small effect), the endophenotype concept continues to make a meaningful contribution to the field. The endophenotype concept forced the field to move beyond a simple disease model of finding genes ‘for’ psychiatric outcomes, and reminded us that genes are quite distal from complex behavioral outcomes and disorders. Endophenotypes called our attention to the steps along that pathway. In that process, the concept of endophenotypes evolved and expanded to include discussion of the role that other intermediary traits and psychological processes play in the development and genetic etiology of psychiatric and substance use disorders. As large-scale consortia continues to identify genes and generate genome-wide polygenic scores that are associated with behavioral outcomes, the next important step will be to characterize the pathways and mechanisms by which genetic risk unfolds. This essential step of mapping risk from genes to behavior is an evolution that follows naturally from the endophenotype concept, and could ultimately translate into improved prevention and intervention for individuals who are pre-disposed to mental health challenges.

This study examined the prevalence and correlates of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in freshman entering college and prospective associations of probable PTSD with additional outcomes.2,310 students with data collected from Fall 2014 through Spring 2015.Incoming freshman completed a survey assessing for relevant variables at the beginning of fall semester and during the spring semester.Seventy percent of the sample endorsed experiencing at least one potentially traumatic event (PTE). 34.4% of PTE exposed individuals met criteria for probable PTSD. Female sex, higher depressive and anxiety symptoms, and interpersonal PTE count were positively associated with PTSD symptoms. Higher PTSD symptoms were associated with higher anxiety and depressive symptoms, and new-onset interpersonal PTE.Identification of factors contributing to risk for PTSD is essential to inform prevention and intervention efforts. Intervention efforts should be targeted to students experiencing PTSD symptoms as they enter college.

Youth tobacco use behaviors are predictive of patterns in adulthood and effect long-term health outcomes. Yet, few studies have examined the effect of initial subjective experiences (ISEs) during first tobacco use, which has been found to be an indicator of individuals. sensitivity to nicotine and vulnerability to dependence.The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of ISEs across a variety of tobacco products, evaluate the factor structure of ISEs by first tobacco product used, and examine the relationship between ISEs and recent (30-day) use of tobacco products across time, using a university sample.Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to identify latent factors present with respect to items measuring ISEs with tobacco, separately by tobacco product (e.g. cigarettes, cigars, hookah, e-cigarettes). Factor scores for positive and negative ISEs were calculated. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between ISEs and recent use of each tobacco product, adjusted for age at first use, sex, race/ethnicity, and cohort.ISEs differ by the first tobacco product used. Associations between factor scores for positive and negative ISEs and recent use were found across a variety of tobacco products. Overall, positive ISEs were more strongly associated with recent use, relative to negative ISEs.Further research is needed to identify genetic and biological pathways and social contexts influencing initial subjective experiences with tobacco use, in efforts to delay the initiation for tobacco use and reduce risk for continued use among young adults.

Objective Distress tolerance (DT; the perceived or actual ability to withstand negative internal states) has emerged as a promising transdiagnostic risk factor in clinically severe populations. However, little is known about etiological factors associated with the development of DT. We hypothesized that greater levels of childhood trauma would be associated with lower perceived and behavioral DT, beyond theoretically relevant covariates. Method The current investigation evaluated several childhood trauma types (i.e., physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect) in relation to perceived (i.e., self-report) and behavioral DT in a sample of 87 trauma-exposed adults in acute-care psychiatric inpatient treatment. Results Results of hierarchical linear regression models indicated that greater childhood physical abuse and emotional neglect were significantly associated with higher perceived DT. Greater levels of emotional abuse were associated with lower perceived DT, and greater physical neglect was associated with lower behavioral DT. Conclusions DT may be differentially influenced by different forms of childhood trauma. (PsycINFO Database Record

Background Developmental relationships between tobacco use and suicide-related behaviors (SRB) remain unclear. Our objective was to investigate the longitudinal associations of tobacco use in adolescence and SRB in adulthood. Methods Using a prospective design, we examined whether tobacco use in adolescence is associated with SRB (intentional self-injury, suicide ideation) in young adulthood in a population-based sample of 1330 twins (626 males, 704 females). The baseline and follow-up data were collected by professionally administered semi-structured poly-diagnostic interviews at ages 14 and 22, respectively. Results After adjusting for multiple potential confounders, those who reported early-onset of regular tobacco use had a significantly increased risk for intentional self-injury, such as cutting or burning, at age 22 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 4.57, 95% CI 1.93–10.8) in comparison to those who had not at all initiated tobacco use. Also, daily cigarette smoking at baseline was associated with future intentional self-injury (AOR 4.45, 95% CI 2.04–9.70). Early-onset tobacco use was associated with suicidal ideation in females (AOR 3.69, 95% CI 1.56–8.72) but not in males. Considering any SRB, baseline daily smokers (AOR 2.13, 95% CI 1.12–4.07) and females with early onset of regular tobacco use (AOR 3.97, 95% CI 1.73–9.13) had an increased likelihood. Within-family analyses among twin pairs discordant for exposure and outcome controlling for familial confounds showed similar, albeit statistically non-significant, associations. Conclusion Early-onset tobacco use in adolescence is longitudinally associated with SRB (intentional self-injury and/or suicide ideation) in young adulthood, particularly among females. Further investigation may reveal whether this association has implications for prevention of SRB in adolescence and young adulthood.

BACKGROUND: Characterizing aggregate genetic risk for alcohol misuse and identifying variants involved in gene-by-environment (G × E) interaction effects has so far been a major challenge. We hypothesized that functional genomic information could be used to enhance detection of polygenic signal underlying alcohol misuse and to prioritize identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) most likely to exhibit G × E effects.METHODS: We examined these questions in the young adult FinnTwin12 sample (n = 1,170). We used genomewide association estimates from an independent sample to derive 2 types of polygenic scores for alcohol problems in FinnTwin12. Genomewide polygenic scores included all SNPs surpassing a designated p-value threshold. DNase polygenic scores were a subset of the genomewide polygenic scores including only variants in DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHSs), which are open chromatin marks likely to index regions with a regulatory function. We conducted parallel analyses using height as a nonpsychiatric model phenotype to evaluate the consistency of effects. For the G × E analyses, we examined whether SNPs in DHSs were overrepresented among SNPs demonstrating significant G × E effects in an interaction between romantic relationship status and intoxication frequency.RESULTS: Contrary to our expectations, we found that DNase polygenic scores were not more strongly predictive of alcohol problems than conventional polygenic scores. However, variants in DNase polygenic scores had per-SNP effects that were up to 1.4 times larger than variants in conventional polygenic scores. This same pattern of effects was also observed in supplementary analyses with height. In G × E models, SNPs in DHSs were modestly overrepresented among SNPs with significant interaction effects for intoxication frequency.CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the potential utility of integrating functional genomic annotation information to increase the signal-to-noise ratio in polygenic scores and identify genetic variants that may be most susceptible to environmental modification.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a campus-wide social norms marketing intervention on alcohol-use perceptions, consumption, and blackouts at a large, urban, public university. Participants: 4,172 college students (1,208 freshmen, 1,159 sophomores, 953 juniors, and 852 seniors) who completed surveys in Spring 2015 for the Spit for Science Study, a longitudinal study of students' substance use and emotional health. Methods: Participants were e-mailed an online survey that queried campaign readership, perception of peer alcohol use, alcohol consumption, frequency of consumption, and frequency of blackouts. Associations between variables were evaluated using path analysis. Results: We found that campaign readership was associated with more accurate perceptions of peer alcohol use, which, in turn, was associated with self-reported lower number of drinks per sitting and experiencing fewer blackouts. Conclusions: This evaluation supports the use of social norms marketing as a population-level interve...

Background Testing for direct gene/SNP replication of association across studies may not capture the true importance of a candidate locus; rather, we suggest that relevant replication across studies may be found at the level of a biological process. We previously observed that variation in two members of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex is associated with alcohol dependence (AD) in the Irish Affected Sib Pair Study for Alcohol Dependence. Here, we tested for association with alcohol-related outcomes using a set of genes functioning in the SWI/SNF complex in two independent samples. Methods We used a set-based analysis to examine the 29 genes of the SWI/SNF complex for evidence of association with (1) AD in the adult Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) case/control sample and (2) antisocial behavior, hypothesized to be a genetically-related developmental precursor, in a younger population sample (Spit for Science). Results We found evidence for association of the SWI/SNF complex with AD in COGA (p=0.0435) and more general antisocial behavior in Spit for Science (p=0.00026). The genes that contributed most strongly to the signal in COGA were SS18L1, SMARCD1, BRD7, SMARCB1 and BCL11A. In the Spit for Science sample, ACTB, ARID2, BCL11A, BCL11B, BCL7B, BCL7C, DPF2, and DPF3 all contributed strongly to the signal. Conclusions We detected associations between the SWI/SNF complex and AD in an adult population selected from treatment-seeking probands and antisocial behavior in an adolescent population sample. This provides strong support for a role for SWI/SNF in the development of alcohol-related problems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The study of sex differences has been identified as one way to enhance scientific reproducibility, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have implemented a new policy to encourage the explicit examination of sex differences. Our goal here is to address sex differences in behavioral genetic research on alcohol outcomes.We review sex differences for alcohol outcomes and whether the source and magnitude of genetic influences on alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are the same across sexes; describe common research designs for studying sex-specific gene-by-environment interaction (G × E) effects; and discuss the role of statistical power and theory when testing sex-specific genetic effects.There are robust sex differences for many alcohol outcomes. The weight of evidence suggests that the source and magnitude of genetic influences on alcohol consumption and AUD are the same across sexes. Whether there are sex-specific G × E effects has received less attention to date.The new NIH policy necessitates a systematic approach for studying sex-specific genetic effects in alcohol research. Researchers are encouraged to report power for tests of these effects and to use theory to develop testable hypotheses, especially for studies of G × E.

The current study used data from two longitudinal samples to test whether self-regulation, depressive symptoms, and aggression/antisociality were mediators in the relation between a polygenic score indexing serotonin (5-HT) functioning and alcohol use in adolescence. The results from an independent genome-wide association study of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in the cerebrospinal fluid were used to create 5-HT polygenic risk scores. Adolescents and/or parents reported on adolescents’ self-regulation (Time 1), depressive symptoms (Time 2), aggression/antisociality (Time 2), and alcohol use (Time 3). The results showed that 5-HT polygenic risk did not predict self-regulation. However, adolescents with higher levels of 5-HT polygenic risk showed greater depression and aggression/antisociality. Adolescents’ aggression/antisociality mediated the relation between 5-HT polygenic risk and later alcohol use. Deficits in self-regulation also predicted depression and aggression/antisociality, and indirectly predicted alcohol use through aggression/antisociality. Pathways to alcohol use were especially salient for males from families with low parental education in one of the two samples. The results provide insights into the longitudinal mechanisms underlying the relation between 5-HT functioning and alcohol use (i.e., earlier aggression/antisociality). There was no evidence that genetically based variation in 5-HT functioning predisposed individuals to deficits in self-regulation. Genetically based variation in 5-HT functioning and self-regulation might be separate, transdiagnostic risk factors for several types of psychopathology.

Introduction Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use prevalence is increasing among U.S. adolescents and adults but recent longitudinal data for college/university students are scarce. Furthermore, the extent that e-cigarette use is associated with the onset of cigarette smoking and the factors that lead to the uptake of e-cigarettes in college students has not been explored. Methods 3757 participants from a Mid-Atlantic university (women: 66%; White: 45%; Black: 21%; Asian: 19%; Hispanic/Latino: 6%) were surveyed in 2014 and again in 2015. Results Among participants reporting never smoking at time 1, those who had ever tried e-cigarettes or were currently using e-cigarettes (at least one use in past 30 days) were more likely to have ever tried cigarettes by time 2 relative to individuals who had not used e-cigarettes. Ever use of e-cigarettes (but not current use) also increased participants' likelihood of being current cigarette smokers at time 2. Among initial never users of e-cigarettes or cigarettes, males and ever marijuana users had an increased probability of trying e-cigarettes by time 2. Furthermore, less perseverance (an index of impulsivity) and ever use of other tobacco products increased initial never users' chances of trying both cigarettes and e-cigarettes by time 2. Conclusions Given that never-smoking participants who had tried e-cigarettes were more likely to initiate cigarette use later, limiting young adults' access to these products may be beneficial. As the long-term health implications of e-cigarette use become clearer, predictors of e-cigarette use could help identify future populations likely to use and abuse these products.

Twin studies indicate that latent genetic factors overlap across comorbid psychiatric disorders. In this study, we used a novel approach to elucidate shared genetic factors across psychiatric outcomes by clustering single nucleotide polymorphisms based on their genome-wide association patterns. We applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to p-values resulting from genome-wide association studies across three phenotypes: symptom counts of alcohol dependence (AD), antisocial personality disorder (ASP), and major depression (MD), using the European-American case-control genome-wide association study subsample of the collaborative study on the genetics of alcoholism (N = 1399). In the 3-class model, classes were characterized by overall low associations (85.6% of SNPs), relatively stronger association only with MD (6.8%), and stronger associations with AD and ASP but not with MD (7.6%), respectively. These results parallel the genetic factor structure identified in twin studies. The findings suggest that applying LPA to association results across multiple disorders may be a promising approach to identify the specific genetic etiologies underlying shared genetic variance.

The aims were two-fold: to examine prevalence and correlates of lifetime potentially traumatic event (PTE) exposure and to explore the relationships between PTE exposure and mental health outcomes (i.e., trauma related distress, alcohol use quantity and frequency, depression symptoms, and anxiety symptoms) within a large sample of college freshmen. 6120 participants, consisting of three cohorts of incoming freshman at a large southeastern university, completed an online assessment battery measuring a multitude of factors including PTEs, personality, relationships (i.e., parental and peer), and mental health. The majority (81.8%) of participants endorsed experiencing at least one PTE within their lifetime and 39.0% reported at least one interpersonal trauma (i.e., physical assault, sexual assault, other unwanted or uncomfortable sexual situation). The average number of PTE categories endorsed was 1.71 (SD=1.30), and 8.7% of participants reported experiencing four or more separate PTE categories pre-college entry. Female gender and peer deviance were consistently associated with PTE exposure and symptoms of psychopathology. Furthermore, a history of interpersonal PTE exposure was associated with increased alcohol use (i.e., frequency and quantity), trauma related distress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms. The data demonstrate high prevalence PTE exposure among young adults and the clinical significance of a PTE history.

OBJECTIVE: Impulsivity and extraversion have demonstrated associations with risky sexual behavior (RSB) and potentially traumatic events (PTEs). In addition, interpersonal trauma appears to be associated with RSB, but research on the relationship between RSB and noninterpersonal PTEs (e.g., accidental) is lacking. The current study aims to investigate the relationships between personality (i.e., impulsivity, extraversion), RSB and multiple types of PTEs (i.e., accidental, physical, or sexual). METHOD: Personality and demographic characteristics were assessed during participants' (N = 970) first semester of college, past-12 month PTEs and RSB were assessed during the second semester of participants' junior year. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the relationship between PTEs, personality factors, and RSB. Analyses were also conducted to examine the potential mediating effect of interpersonal PTEs on the relationship between personality and RSB. RESULTS: Impulsivity and extraversion were significantly positively associated with RSB. Both physical and sexual PTEs, but not accidental PTEs, were also significantly positively associated with RSB. Sexual PTEs significantly mediated the relationship between impulsivity and RSB. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to date to simultaneously examine the relationship between personality, RSB, and types of PTEs in a large sample of young adults. Exposure to interpersonal trauma appears to be a salient factor in the relationship between personality, specifically impulsivity, and RSB. These results indicate that college students may benefit from education regarding the potential negative outcomes of RSB, and that individuals with a history of interpersonal PTEs may be at increased risk for sexual risk taking. (PsycINFO Database Record(c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en

College is a high-risk time for interpersonal trauma (IPT) exposure (e.g., physical or sexual abuse/assault), a potent form of trauma exposure. College is also a high-risk time for alcohol misuse, as use begins and increases in adolescence and peaks in the early/mid 20’s. Additionally, although IPT is associated with alcohol misuse, less clear is whether distal (prior to college) or proximal (during college) IPT impacts alcohol use disorder symptoms at the beginning of college, and/or changes in symptoms during college. Data were collected from a large, longitudinal study of college students, attending a large public university in the southeast, who had reported lifetime IPT as well as lifetime alcohol use. Participants in the current study were 18.5 years old (SD: 0.46), primarily female (67.2%), and of diverse racial backgrounds (e.g., 53.4% White, 18.5% Black, 12.7% Asian, 15.4% Other). Latent change score analyses were employed to test the impact of IPT prior to college and IPT during college on initial levels of, and changes in, alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms during college. Those who experienced an IPT prior to college reported more AUD symptoms at the beginning of college and less changes in AUD symptoms during the first year of college. Those who experienced an IPT in the first two, and last two years of college, reported greater increases in symptoms in the first two and last two years of college, respectively. Findings suggest that prevention and intervention efforts for those who experience an IPT prior to or during college may be useful in reducing AUD symptoms during that time period.

Background and Aims Previous twin research suggests relationship status can moderate underlying genetic liability towards alcohol misuse. This paper examined: (1) whether genome-wide polygenic scores (GPS) for alcohol consumption are associated with alcohol misuse; (2) whether these GPS are moderated by romantic relationships (gene-environment interaction; G x E) and (3) whether G x E results are consistent across sex. Design Linear mixed-effects models were used to test associations between genome-wide polygenic scores, relationship status and alcohol use/misuse. Setting Finnish twins born between 1983 and 1987 identified through Finland's central population registry. Participants An intensively studied subset of Finnish Twin Study (FinnTwin12) during the young adult phase (aged 20-26 years). The analytical sample includes those with complete interview and genetic data (n = 1201). Measurements Key measurements included involvement in a romantic partnership, drinking frequency, intoxication frequency and DSM-IV alcohol dependence (AD) symptoms. Genome-wide polygenic scores (GPS) were created from available summary statistics from a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) of drinks per week. Results GPS predicted drinking frequency [b = 0.109; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.050, 0.168], intoxication frequency (b = 0.111; 95% CI = 0.054, 0.168) and AD symptoms (b = 0.123; 95% CI = 0.064, 0.182). Having a romantic relationship negatively influenced the association between GPS and drinking frequency (b = -0.105; 95% CI = -0.211, -0.001), intoxication frequency (b = -0.118; 95% CI = -0.220, -0.016) and AD symptoms (b = -0.119; 95% CI = -0.229, -0.009). There was a three-way interaction between sex, relationship status and GPS for intoxication frequency (b = 0.223; 95% CI = 0.013, 0.433), such that the reduced association between GPS and intoxication frequency for those in a relationship was only apparent in males. We found no evidence of three-way interactions for drinking frequency or AD symptoms. Conclusions Being in a romantic relationship reduced the association between genetic predisposition and drinking, high-risk drinking and alcohol problems. However, for high-risk drinking the protective effect was limited to males, mapping onto earlier findings suggesting that males benefit more from romantic partnerships.

Characterized primarily by a low body-mass index, anorexia nervosa is a complex and serious illness 1, affecting 0.9–4% of women and 0.3% of men 2–4, with twin-based heritability estimates of 50–60% 5. Mortality rates are higher than those in other psychiatric disorders 6, and outcomes are unacceptably poor 7. Here we combine data from the Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI) 8,9 and the Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC-ED) and conduct a genome-wide association study of 16,992 cases of anorexia nervosa and 55,525 controls, identifying eight significant loci. The genetic architecture of anorexia nervosa mirrors its clinical presentation, showing significant genetic correlations with psychiatric disorders, physical activity, and metabolic (including glycemic), lipid and anthropometric traits, independent of the effects of common variants associated with body-mass index. These results further encourage a reconceptualization of anorexia nervosa as a metabo-psychiatric disorder. Elucidating the metabolic component is a critical direction for future research, and paying attention to both psychiatric and metabolic components may be key to improving outcomes.