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Genetic nurture effects for alcohol use disorder
Nathaniel S Thomas1, Jessica E Salvatore2, Sally I-Chun Kuo3
1Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA. thomasns@vcu.edu.
Molecular Psychiatry
|October 17, 2022
Summary
Parents transmit genetic risk for alcohol problems indirectly through home environment factors like discord and divorce. This genetic nurture influences children's alcohol use patterns and risk for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Genetics
- Psychiatric Genetics
- Family Studies
Background:
- Genetic factors contribute to alcohol problems.
- Parental relationship discord and divorce are environmental factors linked to offspring outcomes.
- The concept of genetic nurture suggests parents can influence offspring traits through genetically influenced environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if childhood/adolescent home environment aspects mediate genetic risk for alcohol problems across generations.
- To examine the role of parental relationship discord and divorce in the intergenerational transmission of alcohol risk.
- To explore genetic nurture effects in families of European and African ancestry.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA).
- Employed structural equation modeling to analyze genetic risk transmission.
- Partitioned parental polygenic scores into transmitted and non-transmitted alleles to offspring.
Main Results:
- In European ancestry families, parental relationship discord and divorce partially mediated genetic risk for alcohol problems.
- These environmental factors predicted earlier regular drinking, earlier intoxication, higher maximum drinks, and more Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) criteria in offspring.
- No significant evidence of indirect genetic effects via these environmental factors was found in African ancestry families.
Conclusions:
- Parents transmit genetic risk for alcohol problems not only directly but also indirectly through genetically influenced home environments (genetic nurture).
- Home environment mediation of genetic risk was observed in European ancestry families but not in African ancestry families.
- Further research on genetic nurture in diverse ancestral populations is warranted.
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