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ABSTRACT: Background
Parental divorce and discord are associated with poorer alcohol-related outcomes for offspring. However, not all children exposed to these stressors develop alcohol problems. Our objective was to test gene-by-environment interaction effects whereby children's genetic risk for alcohol problems modifies the effects of parental divorce and discord to predict alcohol outcomes.Methods
The sample included European (EA; N = 5608, 47% male, Mage ~ 36 years) and African (AA; N = 1714, 46% female, Mage ~ 33 years) ancestry participants from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism. Outcomes included age at initiation of regular drinking and lifetime DSM-5 alcohol use disorder (AUD). Predictors included parental divorce, parental relationship discord, and offspring alcohol problems polygenic risk scores (PRSALC ). Mixed effects Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine alcohol initiation and generalized linear mixed effects models were used to examine lifetime AUD. Tests of PRS moderation of the effects of parental divorce/relationship discord on alcohol outcomes were examined on multiplicative and additive scales.Results
Among EA participants, parental divorce, parental discord, and higher PRSALC were associated with earlier alcohol initiation and greater lifetime AUD risk. Among AA participants, parental divorce was associated with earlier alcohol initiation and discord was associated with earlier initiation and AUD. PRSALC was not associated with either. Parental divorce/discord and PRSALC interacted on an additive scale in the EA sample, but no interactions were found in AA participants.Conclusions
Children's genetic risk for alcohol problems modifies the impact of parental divorce/discord, consistent with an additive model of diathesis-stress interaction, with some differences across ancestry.
SUBMITTER: Kuo SI
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10149624 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Kuo Sally I-Chun SI Thomas Nathaniel S NS Aliev Fazil F Bucholz Kathleen K KK Dick Danielle M DM McCutcheon Vivia V VV Meyers Jacquelyn L JL Chan Grace G Kamarajan Chella C Kramer John R JR Hesselbrock Victor V Plawecki Martin H MH Porjesz Bernice B Tischfield Jay J Salvatore Jessica E JE
Alcohol, clinical & experimental research 20230305 4
<h4>Background</h4>Parental divorce and discord are associated with poorer alcohol-related outcomes for offspring. However, not all children exposed to these stressors develop alcohol problems. Our objective was to test gene-by-environment interaction effects whereby children's genetic risk for alcohol problems modifies the effects of parental divorce and discord to predict alcohol outcomes.<h4>Methods</h4>The sample included European (EA; N = 5608, 47% male, M<sub>age</sub> ~ 36 years) and Afr ...[more]