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Using genetically informed designs to understand the impact of parental divorce/separation and parental marital discord on offspring alcohol outcomes

Award Number: R01AA028064
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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Project Summary The objective in this proposal is to advance the understanding of the mechanisms through which parental divorce/separation and marital discord influence offspring alcohol use disorder (AUD) and related outcomes (e.g., earlier age at first drink and alcohol misuse). It is commonly thought that parental divorce/separation and parental marital discord have direct, pathogenic effects on offspring alcohol outcomes. Yet, there is a limited appreciation of the role of genetic factors in these associations, despite suggestive evidence that offspring exposed to parental marital problems also inherit AUD genetic predispositions, and that AUD genetic predispositions can sensitize individuals to the adverse effects of environmental stressors. This underscores the need to study the confluence of genetic factors and these common family adversities to understand their joint legacy on offspring alcohol outcomes. The goal here is to address this gap using data from two intergenerational, genetically-informative studies. The first is the Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders, a sample of European ancestry twins (N=9345, 45% female) recruited from birth records for whom direct psychiatric interview data were collected on all twins plus a subset of parents (N=1472, 58% female), with additional parental data collected via diagnostic psychiatric family history interviews with the twins. The second is the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (N=11561, 53% female), a molecular genetic study of an ethnically diverse (69% European American, 31% African American) sample of families primarily recruited via treatment-seeking probands for whom psychiatric interview data were collected from all participants. These two samples are mutually informative in permitting examination of the generalizability and convergence of findings across different methods and populations. Guided by a bio- ecological framework, the aims are to: (1) examine the extent to which associations between parental divorce/separation, parental marital discord, and offspring alcohol outcomes reflect direct (i.e., ‘causal’) effects versus shared genetic effects; and (2) examine whether offspring genetic factors predict variability in their responses to parental divorce/separation and parental marital discord. The results may have theoretical implications for the indirect, environmental pathways through which genetic risk for alcohol problems is transmitted in families (i.e., gene-environment correlation), as well as an understanding of how genetic influences confer sensitivity to familial stressors (i.e., gene-environment interaction). In turn, the results may inform clinicians’ psychoeducation efforts to prevent alcohol misuse among offspring from families experiencing marital distress and divorce. More broadly, this work will contribute to the long-term goal of the Early Stage Investigator PI’s program of research to delineate how genetic factors and close relationship factors come together to influence the onset, persistence, and discontinuity of alcohol misuse.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $317,258 )
2023	2023	RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY	675 HOES LN	PISCATAWAY	NJ	08854	MIDDLESEX	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	000	4	7/3/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$317,258
2023	2023	RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY	675 HOES LN	PISCATAWAY	NJ	08854	MIDDLESEX	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	001	4	7/25/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$317,258
2023	2023	RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY	65 BERGEN ST	NEWARK	NJ	07107	ESSEX	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	002	5	7/26/2023	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$317,258
														Subtotal = $317,258

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $316,969 )
2022	2022	RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY	675 HOES LN	PISCATAWAY	NJ	08854	MIDDLESEX	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	002	3	7/8/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$316,969
2022	2021	RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY	675 HOES LN	PISCATAWAY	NJ	08854	MIDDLESEX	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	001	2	1/12/2022	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$87,128
2022	2020	VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY	910 WEST FRANKLIN ST	RICHMOND	VA	23284	RICHMOND CITY	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	000	1	1/12/2022	NEW	-$87,128
														Subtotal = $316,969

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $315,454 )
2021	2021	RUTGERS, THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW JERSEY	675 HOES LN	PISCATAWAY	NJ	08854	MIDDLESEX	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	001	2	9/15/2021	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$315,454
2021	2020	VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY	912 W FRANKLIN ST	RICHMOND	VA	23284	RICHMOND CITY	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	000	1	9/15/2021	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $315,454

Issue Date FY: 2020 ( Subtotal = $348,946 )
2020	2020	VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY	912 W FRANKLIN ST	RICHMOND	VA	23284	RICHMOND CITY	USA	Alcohol Research Programs	000	1	8/5/2020	NEW	$348,946
														Subtotal = $348,946

Grand Total All Awards = $1,298,627

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Using genetically informed designs to understand the impact of parental divorce/separation and parental marital discord on offspring alcohol outcomes

Award Number: R01AA028064

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

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