Abstract
Background: Drinking motives are robust proximal predictors of alcohol use behaviors and may mediate distinct etiological pathways in the development of alcohol misuse. However, little is known about the genetic and environmental etiology of drinking motives themselves and their potential utility as endophenotypes. Methods: Here, we leverage a longitudinal study of college students from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (phenotypic N = 9889, genotypic N = 4855) to investigate the temporal stability and demographic and environmental predictors of four types of drinking motives (enhancement, social, coping, and conformity). Using genome-wide association study (GWAS) and in silico tools, we characterize their associated genes and genetic variants (single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs). Results: Drinking motives were stable across four years of college (ICC >0.74). Some robust environmental predictors of alcohol misuse (parental autonomy granting and peer deviance) were broadly associated with multiple types of drinking motives, while others (e.g., trauma exposure) were type specific. Genome-wide analyses indicated modest SNP-based heritability (14–22%, n.s.) and several suggestive genomic loci that corroborate findings from previous molecular genetic studies (e.g., PECR and SIRT4 genes), indicating possible differences in the genetic etiology of positive versus negative reinforcement drinking motives that align with an internalizing/externalizing typology of alcohol misuse. Coping motives were significantly genetically correlated with alcohol use disorder diagnoses (rg = 0.71, p = 0.001). However, results from the genetic analyses were largely underpowered to detect significant associations. Conclusions: Drinking motives show promise as endophenotypes but require further investigation in larger samples to further our understanding of the etiology of alcohol misuse.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1783-1796 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| Early online date | 18 Oct 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Spit for Science has been supported by Virginia Commonwealth University, P20 AA017828, R37AA011408, K02AA018755, P50 AA022537, and K01AA024152 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and UL1RR031990 from the National Center for Research Resources and National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research. This research was also supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54DA036105 and the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. JES was supported by F31AA024378 from the NIAAA. RE Peterson is supported by NIMH K01MH113848, The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD grant 28632 P&S Fund, and NIAAA P50AA022537. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the NIH or the FDA. The funding agencies had no role in the study design, data analysis, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit for publication. Data from this study are available to qualified researchers via dbGaP (phs001754.v2.p1). We would like to thank the Spit for Science participants for making this study a success, as well as the many University faculty, students, and staff who contributed to the design and implementation of the project. Portions of this work were conducted as part of a PhD dissertation project and have been made available online via ProQuest.
Funding Information:
Spit for Science has been supported by Virginia Commonwealth University, P20 AA017828, R37AA011408, K02AA018755, P50 AA022537, and K01AA024152 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and UL1RR031990 from the National Center for Research Resources and National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research. This research was also supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54DA036105 and the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. JES was supported by F31AA024378 from the NIAAA. RE Peterson is supported by NIMH K01MH113848, The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD grant 28632 P&S Fund, and NIAAA P50AA022537. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the NIH or the FDA. The funding agencies had no role in the study design, data analysis, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit for publication. Data from this study are available to qualified researchers via dbGaP (phs001754.v2.p1). We would like to thank the Spit for Science participants for making this study a success, as well as the many University faculty, students, and staff who contributed to the design and implementation of the project. Portions of this work were conducted as part of a PhD dissertation project and have been made available online via ProQuest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Research Society on Alcoholism.
Funding
Spit for Science has been supported by Virginia Commonwealth University, P20 AA017828, R37AA011408, K02AA018755, P50 AA022537, and K01AA024152 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and UL1RR031990 from the National Center for Research Resources and National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research. This research was also supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54DA036105 and the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. JES was supported by F31AA024378 from the NIAAA. RE Peterson is supported by NIMH K01MH113848, The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD grant 28632 P&S Fund, and NIAAA P50AA022537. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the NIH or the FDA. The funding agencies had no role in the study design, data analysis, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit for publication. Data from this study are available to qualified researchers via dbGaP (phs001754.v2.p1). We would like to thank the Spit for Science participants for making this study a success, as well as the many University faculty, students, and staff who contributed to the design and implementation of the project. Portions of this work were conducted as part of a PhD dissertation project and have been made available online via ProQuest. Spit for Science has been supported by Virginia Commonwealth University, P20 AA017828, R37AA011408, K02AA018755, P50 AA022537, and K01AA024152 from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and UL1RR031990 from the National Center for Research Resources and National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical Research. This research was also supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U54DA036105 and the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. JES was supported by F31AA024378 from the NIAAA. RE Peterson is supported by NIMH K01MH113848, The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD grant 28632 P&S Fund, and NIAAA P50AA022537. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the NIH or the FDA. The funding agencies had no role in the study design, data analysis, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit for publication. Data from this study are available to qualified researchers via dbGaP (phs001754.v2.p1). We would like to thank the Spit for Science participants for making this study a success, as well as the many University faculty, students, and staff who contributed to the design and implementation of the project. Portions of this work were conducted as part of a PhD dissertation project and have been made available online via ProQuest.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Spit for Science | |
| National Institutes of Health | |
| National Institute of Mental Health | K01MH113848 |
| National Institute on Drug Abuse | U54DA036105 |
| National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism | F31AA024378, K02AA018755, P50AA022537, R37AA011408, K01AA024152, UL1RR031990 |
| U.S. Food and Drug Administration | |
| Brain and Behavior Research Foundation | 28632 |
| Virginia Commonwealth University | P20 AA017828, P50 AA022537 |
| Center for Tobacco Products |
Keywords
- alcohol misuse
- college students
- drinking motives
- endophenotype
- GWAS
