Genetic, psychological, and environmental factors are uniquely associated with onset of alcohol use in the adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Alcohol use during adolescence poses a significant public health problem due to its potential long-term consequences on both physical and mental health and increased risk for developing substance use disorders later in life. Both individual (e.g., genetic liability, neural functioning, personality features) and environmental (e.g., parenting, school environment) features play an important role in accelerating or buffering the progression of early alcohol consumption. This study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study (Release 5.1; N = 11,868) to provide a comprehensive examination of how genetic, neural, trait, and environmental factors are associated with risk for first sip of alcohol, first full drink, and the progression from first sip to full drink, both independently and uniquely. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the univariable associations between theoretically relevant genetic, neural, trait, and environmental variables and early alcohol use. Then, stepwise model-fitting was used to determine which indicators were uniquely associated with alcohol outcomes. Risk for early alcohol use was distributed across multiple domains highlighting the unique information provided by genetic, trait, and environmental variables. Results also indicated the importance of both environmental and genetic factors on time to first sip of alcohol, but that time to first full drink and the progression from sip to drink was most associated with genetic and trait factors rather than broad environmental influences. These findings highlight both potential etiological pathways driving early alcohol use as well as phenotypic and environmental process that can be targeted for early intervention efforts.
Source: Translational Psychiatry
Language: English
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,290
Funders: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Awards: G1020259976, G1569016918, G1742849658, G1950110545, Urban air pollution and neurobehavioral trajectories in the ABCD study, G2715786902, G2716920946, G3397632743, G3563224455, G3755973507, G4066048162, G4118842765, G4145433541, G5050452325, G5081895789, G5139799579, G5973257529, G687916792, G6887863799, G6922259526, G7271102572, G8281824583, Linking psychometric and multimodal neural measures of socioemotional functioning to early antisocial behavior and environmental risk, Using the Genetic Architecture of Substance Use Disorders to Advance Gene Identification and Understanding of Pathways of Risk, G8679417706, G8762821959, G8865478933, The role of air pollution in emotional neurodevelopment and risk for psychiatric disorders, G9000002232, G9000006386, G9000008241, G9000025954, G9000034221, G9000040245, G9000042425, G9000046731, G9000061868, G9000108491, G9000113866, G9000163168, G9000202101, G9000205938, G9000273886, G9000286149, 9/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U MICHIGAN, Neural, genetic, and environmental indicators of treatment outcomes for adolescent substance use, 17/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT UCLA, 8/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT CHLA, ABCD-USA Consortium: Coordinating Center, 6/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT OHSU, ABCD-USA Consortium: Data Analysis, Informatics and Resource Center, 21/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT WUSTL, 2/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT UMB, G923039674
OpenAlex ID: W4412049826