Alcohol Use Disorder Polygenic Score Compared With Family History and ADH1B.

Importance: Identification of individuals at high risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and subsequent application of prevention and intervention programs has been reported to decrease the incidence of AUD. The polygenic score (PGS), which measures an individual's genetic liability to a disease, can potentially be used to evaluate AUD risk.

Objective: To assess the estimability and generalizability of the PGS, compared with family history and ADH1B, in evaluating the risk of AUD among populations of European ancestry.

Etiology and correlates of alcohol misuse in early midlife.

Background: Early midlife individuals (ages 30-40) experience demographic shifts that may influence the remainder of adult life. Although new or persistent alcohol misuse is common during this period, early midlife is understudied in alcohol use literature. We examined the heritability of alcohol misuse; the associations between alcohol misuse and sociodemographic factors, physical health, and well-being; and whether these associations were robust in cotwin comparisons.

Advancing Gene Discovery for Substance Use Disorders Using Additional Traits Related to Behavioral Disinhibition.

Importance: Substance use disorders (SUDs) frequently co-occur with each other and with other traits related to behavioral disinhibition, a spectrum of outcomes referred to as externalizing. Nevertheless, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) typically study individual SUDs separately. This single-disorder approach ignores genetic covariance between SUDs and other traits and may contribute to the relatively limited genetic discoveries to date.

A Pilot Study to Assess the Impact of a Multifactorial Explanation for Mental Illness on Prejudicial Attitudes Towards People With Mental Illness.

Public stigma and prejudice toward people with psychiatric conditions is highly prevalent and damaging. Explanations for the origins of mental illness can influence attitudes toward people with these conditions. To date, studies exploring the effects of explanations for the origins of mental illness have focused on genetic or environmental explanations, and the impact of evidence-based multifactorial explanations for psychiatric illness on public attitudes remains unknown.