Testing bidirectional relationships between alcohol use and depressive symptoms: What is the role of the serotonin transporter gene?

Alcohol abuse often co-exists with a major depressive disorder. In order to understand the development of this comorbidity, it is important to concentrate on the preceding process. It has been suggested that the link between alcohol use and depressive symptoms is a result of an interaction with genetic factors.

Different trajectories of adolescent alcohol use: testing gene-environment interactions.

Background: Transitions into heavy alcohol use often already take place during adolescence and are likely to be both genetically and environmentally determined. Therefore, in a 6-wave longitudinal study, we examined the effects of DRD2 Taq1A and OPRM1 A118G genotypes and the interaction with parental rule-setting on different groups of adolescent drinkers.

Methods: Growth mixture modeling resulted in 3 distinct groups of adolescent drinkers: light drinkers (n = 346), moderate drinkers (n = 178), and heavy drinkers (n = 72).

Longitudinal associations between attitudes towards binge drinking and alcohol-free drinks, and binge drinking behavior in adolescence.

Alcohol attitudes are often considered an important predecessor of drinking behavior, although the literature is equivocal. Lately, attention has turned to enhancing positive cognitions on alcoholic-free drinks to discourage heavy drinking. The current study was the first to longitudinally examine associations between attitudes towards binge drinking and alcohol-free drinks and binge drinking behavior in a cross-lagged path model in Mplus.

The moderating effect of alcohol-specific parental rule-setting on the relation between the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2), the μ-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) and alcohol use in young adolescents.

Aims: The main aim of the study was to test the moderating effect of two genetic polymorphisms, one in the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) and one in the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1), on the link between parental rule-setting and adolescent alcohol use.

Methods: A total of 214 adolescents (M(age )=13.7, 44.

Best friends and alcohol use in adolescence: the role of the dopamine D4 receptor gene.

The influence of friends and peers is theoretically one of the most consistent and important factors explaining adolescent alcohol use. However, not all adolescents are equally likely to be influenced by their friends' drinking behaviors. Genetic factors may underlie these inter-individual differences in susceptibility to the drinking behavior of friends.

Risky alcohol use in adolescence: the role of genetics (DRD2, SLC6A4) and coping motives.

Background: Drinking to cope (i.e., drinking to forget or alleviate negative feelings) has been found to be associated with adolescents' heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems.

Sex differences in young adults' snack food intake after food commercial exposure.

Exposure to food commercials on television is considered to be related to elevated snack food intake in front of the television. However, this assumed relation has as yet not been fully established. The present study, therefore examined the direct effects of watching television food commercials on concurrent non-advertised snack food intake in young adults.

Cognitive functioning in the acute phase poststroke: a predictor of discharge destination?

Cognitive dysfunction occurs in more than half of stroke survivors and can have far-reaching consequences for functioning in daily life. Assessment of cognitive function can play a major role in determining the appropriate discharge destination after a hospital stay. The present study aimed to determine the feasibility of cognitive screening in the acute phase poststroke and to investigate whether this cognitive screening can accurately predict discharge destination to either a dependent or an independent living situation.

A variable-number-of-tandem-repeats polymorphism in the dopamine D4 receptor gene affects social adaptation of alcohol use: investigation of a gene-environment interaction.

Research suggests that people adapt their own drinking behavior to that of other people. According to a genetic-differences approach, some individuals may be more inclined than others to adapt their alcohol consumption level to that of other people. Using a 3 (drinking condition) x 2 (genotype) experimental design (N = 113), we tested whether susceptibility to alcohol-related cues (i.

A serotonin transporter polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) predicts the development of adolescent alcohol use.

Background: Because the effects of susceptibility genes on alcohol use may differ as a function of age throughout adolescence and young adulthood, prospective study designs, in addition to cross-sectional ones are needed in genetic association studies. The short, low activity allele of a polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) in the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) has been related to alcohol dependence. In the current study we tested whether 5-HTTLPR genotype was associated with adolescent alcohol use both cross-sectionally and longitudinally.

Emotional eating in adolescents: a gene (SLC6A4/5-HTT) - depressive feelings interaction analysis.

Eating in response to distress--i.e. emotional eating--is highly prevalent in (female) adults with binge eating, but has only a very low prevalence in young children.

Parental control and the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) interaction on emotional eating in adolescence.

The present study addresses the emergence of emotional eating in adolescence in relation to maternal or paternal psychological control. A reduction of food intake is considered the biological natural response to distress, therefore we tested whether the a-typical stress response of emotional eating develops in interaction with genetic vulnerability. Carrying the A1 allele of the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene Taq1A polymorphism (rs1800497) is associated with reduced dopamine D2 receptor availability in the brain.

Gene-environment interactions and alcohol use and dependence: current status and future challenges.

Aim: To discuss the current status of gene-environment interaction research with regard to alcohol use and dependence. Further, we highlight the difficulties concerning gene-environment studies.

Methods: Overview of the current evidence for gene-environment interactions in alcohol outcomes, and of the associated challenges in gene-environment studies.

Polymorphisms in the dopamine transporter gene (SLC6A3/DAT1) and alcohol dependence in humans: a systematic review.

Dopamine neurotransmission has been a key player in attempts to identify genetic factors involved in alcohol dependence. The dopamine transporter terminates dopaminergic neurotransmission, making the gene encoding the transporter (SLC6A3/DAT1) an attractive candidate in clinical studies on alcohol dependence. We conducted a systematic review of 18 studies examining associations between polymorphisms in DAT1 and alcohol dependence.

The crown of love: intimate relations and alcohol use in adolescence.

Background: Remarkably, little attention has been paid to the role of intimate partners and their drinking behavior in relation to adolescent alcohol use. In the current study, we examined associations between adolescent alcohol use and romantic partners' drinking behavior.

Methods: A total of 428 families, consisting of both parents and two adolescents (aged 13.

Partner effects and bidirectional parent-child effects in family alcohol use.

Introduction: The current study investigated partner effects and bidirectional parent-child effects in family alcohol use.

Methods: A full family, longitudinal design was used to test the hypotheses. Participants were 428 families, including mothers, fathers, and 2 children.

Parental problem drinking, parenting, and adolescent alcohol use.

The present study examined whether parental problem drinking affected parenting (i.e., behavioral control, support, rule-setting, alcohol-specific behavioral control), and whether parental problem drinking and parenting affected subsequent adolescent alcohol use over time.

Polymorphisms in the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) and the implications for alcohol dependence in humans.

Twin and adoption studies have shown that alcohol dependence contains a substantial genetic component. In attempts to identify the genetic factors involved, association studies have linked the opioid system to alcohol dependence, with a main focus on the OPRM1 gene encoding the mu-opioid receptor. Our aim was to conduct a systematic review of the literature on the associations between polymorphisms in OPRM1 and alcohol dependence.