Genetic Risk, Neighborhood Characteristics, and Behavioral Difficulties Among African American Adolescents Living in Very Low-Income Neighborhoods.

Behavioral difficulties among African American youth are disproportionately detrimental to their future well-being compared to when demonstrated by White American youth. The majority of gene-environment studies of behavior have been conducted with European ancestry samples, limiting our knowledge of these processes among African Americans. This study examined the influence of positive and negative neighborhood conditions, in the context of genetic risk, on behavioral difficulties among low-income African American adolescents. Data were from the Genes, Environment, and Neighborhood Initiative study of African American youth in high-poverty neighborhoods, n = 524, M age = 15.89, SD = 1.42. DNA samples were collected using the Oragene Discovery 500 series, and polygenic risk scores for behavioral difficulties computed. Neighborhood informal social control, social cohesion, physical disorder, and social disorder were assessed. Adolescent alcohol use, hyperactivity/inattention and conduct problems were examined as outcomes. After controlling for polygenic risk, lower levels of neighborhood social disorder and higher levels of social cohesion were associated with fewer youth-reported hyperactivity/inattention and conduct problems. Less social disorder also was associated with fewer parent-reported behavioral difficulties. Neighborhood characteristics did not moderate associations between genetic risk and the outcomes. Higher levels of positive and lower levels of negative neighborhood characteristics can be associated with lower levels of behavioral difficulties among African American youth living in poverty, even after taking into account genetic risk.

COVID-19-Induced Inequalities and Mental Health: Testing the Moderating Roles of Self-rated Health and Race/Ethnicity.

This study examines the relationship among COVID-19-induced social, economic, and educational inequalities on mental health (i.e., anxiety and depression). This study also examines if levels of self-rated health (SRH) moderate the relationship (i.e., COVID-induced inequalities [CII] and mental health), as well as examines the racial/ethnic group differences among 567 young adults in the mid-Atlantic region. Using a moderation model, results indicate that CII were significantly related to depression (b = .221, t(554) = 4.59, p = .000) and anxiety (b = .140, t(555) = 3.23, p = .001). SRH and race/ethnicity also moderated both relationships. At above-average SRH (i.e., moderator), higher CII were also significantly related to lower anxiety (Asian young adults only) and lower depression (Asian and White young adults only). Overall, SRH and race/ethnicity are important factors in the mental health impact of COVID-19 on young adults.

Risk, Protective, and Associated Factors of Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms and Campus Health Services Utilization Among Black Men on a College Campus.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to analyze relationships among social and environmental determinants serving as risk, protective, and important covariate factors for mental health risk and help-seeking among Black men on a college campus. METHODS: A secondary data analysis was conducted utilizing an ongoing, campus-wide survey at a large, urban, public university. Measures included depressive and anxiety symptoms; campus service utilization; risk factors (e.g., financial status); protective factors (social support/religiosity); and additional covariates (substance use/GPA). Multiple linear regressions were conducted to examine relationships between these factors, symptoms and help-seeking. RESULTS: Data is included for 681 students. Findings indicated that stressful life events were associated with higher levels of anxiety symptoms (B = 0.39, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (B = 0.33, p = 0.013). Cannabis use (B = 1.14, p = .020) was also associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms. We found that financial status (B = 0.21, p = 0.041) was positively associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and endorsement of religiosity was associated with lower levels anxiety (B = - 0.23, p = 0.019) and depressive symptoms (B = - 0.32, p = 0.035). Religiosity predicted lower utilization of campus health services. CONCLUSIONS: The key findings indicated that Black men's mental health is negatively influenced by stressful live events and cannabis use. As religiosity was associated with lower levels of symptoms and utilization, it may be beneficial to assess this in future work. Further research is needed to address and improve mental health and help-seeking among these men.

Community-Based Participatory Research and its Potential Role in Supporting Diversity in Genomic Science.

OBJECTIVES: This paper seeks to understand why targeted efforts to recruit subjects from underrepresented communities have failed to meaningfully increase diversity of genomic reference data. APPROACH: We review a variety of mechanisms that have attempted to establish trust with communities underrepresented in genomic research, including sophisticated informed consent, broad consent, community consultation, and initiatives designed to diversify the scientific workforce. We also analyze the ability of deep community engagement of the type advanced by community-based participatory research (CBPR) to address deficiencies in previous strategies to build trust. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Previous strategies to build trust do not fully address key concerns related to the foundational aims and projects of scientific inquiry. The techniques of CBPR are well suited to address these concerns and thus build trust. Community engagement strategies show tremendous promise in supporting participation of underrepresented communities in genomic research.

Reliability and validity of an internalizing symptom scale based on the adolescent and adult Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA).

BACKGROUND: The Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA) is an interview that assesses psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses, including substance use disorders and anxiety and mood (i.e., internalizing) disorders. Although the SSAGA is widely used, there exists no overall internalizing characteristics scale based on items drawn from SSAGA's mood and anxiety disorder sections. OBJECTIVES: To design and assess a SSAGA-based measurement instrument capturing the overall internalizing dimension that underlies more specific internalizing conditions. METHODS: We developed, assessed, and characterized a new scale for measuring internalizing problematic characteristics derived from the SSAGA interview. All samples were drawn from the Collaborative Studies on the Genetics of Alcoholism, a prospective multi-site genetic study of families at high risk for alcohol use disorders. All participants taking part in the study between September 2005 and September 2017 were eligible (n = 904, 52.2% female). RESULTS: The scale had adequate internal consistency (ordinal α = 0.85, 95% CI = [0.81, 0.89]). Construct validity was supported by its association with other measures of internalizing characteristics (Internalizing Scale from Achenbach Self Reports; Neuroticism Scale from the Neuroticism-Extraversion-Openness Five-Factor Personality Inventory). Several indices of alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine misuse were also positively associated with Internalizing Scale scores. CONCLUSIONS: The Internalizing Scale has very good psychometric properties and can be used in studies that incorporate the SSAGA interview to study the association between internalizing characteristics and problematic alcohol and other substance use. These associations can potentially be utilized to identify individuals at risk for substance problems and to design treatments targeting such individuals.

Childhood Risk Factors for Heavy Episodic Alcohol Use and Alcohol Problems in Late Adolescence: A Marginal Structural Model Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study seeks to clarify the nature of the association between five well-studied late childhood predictors and alcohol-related behaviors in adolescence. METHOD: We examined, in 7,168 subjects from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), using linear probability and marginal structural models, the association between parental alcohol problems, peer group deviance, antisocial behavior, and low parental monitoring, and sensation seeking assessed at multiple times from ages 12.5 to 18 years and heavy episodic drinking and alcohol problems at ages 16.5, 17.5, and 20 years. RESULTS: Based on the pattern of the attenuation in the association with heavy episodic drinking and alcohol problems from the linear probability to marginal structural models, our five factors were divisible into three groups. For parental alcohol problems, no substantial attenuation was seen. For peer group deviance and antisocial behavior, the associations in the marginal structural models were modestly attenuated (10%-20%). By contrast, for low parental monitoring and sensation seeking, moderate attenuations of 41% and 35%, respectively, were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that all or nearly all of the association between parental alcohol problems and heavy episodic drinking and alcohol problems in mid to late adolescence is causal. For peer group deviance and antisocial behavior, the large majority of the associations appear to be causal, but confounding influences are also present. However, for low parental monitoring and sensation seeking, our findings suggest that a substantial proportion of the observed association with alcohol outcomes reflects confounding rather than causal influences.

Childhood socioeconomic status and longitudinal patterns of alcohol problems: Variation across etiological pathways in genetic risk.

Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is an important aspect of early life environment associated with later life health/health behaviors, including alcohol misuse. However, alcohol misuse is modestly heritable and involves differing etiological pathways. Externalizing disorders show significant genetic overlap with substance use, suggesting an impulsivity pathway to alcohol misuse. Alcohol misuse also overlaps with internalizing disorders, suggesting alcohol is used to cope. These differing pathways could lead to different patterns over time and/or differential susceptibility to environmental conditions, such as childhood SES. We examine whether: 1) genetic risk for externalizing and internalizing disorders influence trajectories of alcohol problems across adolescence to adulthood, 2) childhood SES alters genetic risk these disorders on trajectories of alcohol problems, and 3) these patterns are consistent across sex. We find modest evidence of gene-environment interaction. Higher childhood SES increases the risk of alcohol problems in late adolescence/early adulthood, while lower childhood SES increases the risk of alcohol problems in later adulthood, but only among males at greater genetic risk of externalizing disorders. Females from lower SES families with higher genetic risk of internalizing or externalizing disorders have greater risk of developing alcohol problems.

ALDH2*2 and peer drinking in East Asian college students.

BACKGROUND: The ALDH2*2 allele (A-allele) at rs671 is more commonly carried by Asians and is associated with alcohol-related flushing, a strong adverse reaction to alcohol that is protective against drinking. Social factors, such as having friends who binge drink, also contribute to drinking in Asian youth. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the interplay between ALDH2*2, peer drinking, and alcohol consumption in college students. We hypothesized that the relationship between ALDH2*2 and standard grams of ethanol per month would vary based on the level of peer drinking. METHODS: Subjects (N = 318, 63.25% female) were East Asian college students in the United States who reported drinking alcohol. Data were from the freshman year of a university survey that included a saliva DNA sample. ALDH2*2 status was coded ALDH2*2(+) (A/G and A/A genotypes) and ALDH2*2(-) (G/G genotype). Peer drinking was students' perception of how many of their friends "got drunk". RESULTS: Main effects of ALDH2*2(-) and having more friends who got drunk were associated with greater alcohol consumption. The ALDH2*2 × peer drunkenness interaction showed a stronger positive association with alcohol consumption for ALDH2*2(-) versus ALDH2*2(+) at increasing levels of peer drunkenness. Follow-up comparisons within each peer drunkenness level identified significantly higher alcohol consumption for ALDH2*2(-) compared to ALDH2*2(+) at the all friends got drunk level. CONCLUSION: There was evidence of a stronger effect for ALDH2*2(-) compared to ALDH2*2(+) with greater alcohol use when students were more exposed to peer drinking. Findings contribute to a growing literature on the interrelationships between genetic influences and more permissive environments for alcohol consumption.

Risk and protective factors for comorbid internalizing and externalizing problems among economically disadvantaged African American youth.

Comorbidity of internalizing and externalizing problems and its risk and protective factors have not been well incorporated into developmental research, especially among racial minority youth from high-poverty neighborhoods. The present study identified a latent comorbid factor as well as specific factors underlying internalizing and externalizing problems among 592 African American adolescents living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods (291 male; M age = 15.9 years, SD = 1.43 years). Stressful life events and racial discrimination were associated with higher comorbid problems, whereas stressful life events and exposure to violence were associated with higher specific externalizing problems. Collective efficacy was associated with both lower specific externalizing problems and lower comorbid problems. Moreover, high collective efficacy buffered the risk effects of stressful life events and racial discrimination on comorbid problems. Our results demonstrated the advantages of latent variable modeling to understanding comorbidity by articulating impacts of risk factors on comorbid and specific components underlying internalizing and externalizing problems. They also highlighted the protective effect of collective efficacy in mitigating risks for these problems. These findings broadly call for more studies on comorbidities in developmental psychopathology among youth from diverse sociocultural backgrounds.

Effect of Environmental Risk and Externalizing Comorbidity on Internalizing Problems Among Economically Disadvantaged African American Youth.

This study examined effects of racial discrimination, community violence, and stressful life events on internalizing problems among African American youth from high poverty neighborhoods (N = 607; 293 boys; Mage = 16.0 years, SD = 1.44 years). Mediated effects via externalizing problems on these relations were also examined, given the high comorbidity rate between internalizing and externalizing problems. Externalizing problems partially mediated the effect of stressful life events on internalizing problems and fully mediated the effect of racial discrimination for boys but not for girls. Exposure to violence had a significant indirect effect on internalizing problems via externalizing problems. The findings call for greater attention to internalizing problems among African American youth and pathways to internalizing problems via externalizing problems.

Socioeconomic status and alcohol-related behaviors in mid- to late adolescence in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

OBJECTIVE: Prior studies of the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and alcohol consumption and problems in adolescence have been inconclusive. Few studies have examined all three major SES indicators and a broad range of alcohol-related outcomes at different ages. METHOD: In the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort, we examined (by logistic regression, with differential weighting to control for attrition) the relationship between family income and parental education and occupational status, and five alcohol outcomes assessed at ages 16 and 18 years. RESULTS: At age 16, high SES-as indexed by income and education-significantly predicted frequent alcohol consumption. Low SES-as measured by education and occupational status-predicted alcohol-related problems. At age 18, high SES-particularly income and education-significantly predicted frequent alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking and, more weakly, symptoms of alcohol dependence. All three measures of SES were inversely related to high-quantity consumption and alcohol behavioral problems. CONCLUSIONS: In adolescents in the United Kingdom, the relationship between SES and alcohol-related behaviors is complex and varies as a function of age, SES measure, and specific outcome. High SES tends to predict increased consumption and, in later adolescence, heavy episodic drinking and perhaps symptoms of alcohol dependence. Low SES predicts alcohol-related behavioral problems and, in later adolescence, high-quantity alcohol consumption.

Childhood verbal development and drinking behaviors from adolescence to young adulthood: a discordant twin-pair analysis.

BACKGROUND: Studies suggest that better cognitive and verbal abilities in childhood predict earlier experimentation with alcohol and higher levels of drinking in adolescence, whereas poorer ability is related to a higher likelihood of remaining abstinent. Whether individual differences in language development in childhood predict differences in adolescent drinking behaviors has not been studied. METHODS: To address that question, we compared co-twins from twin pairs discordant for their childhood language development and studied associations of parental reports of within-pair differences in age at speaking words, age at learning to read, and expressive language skills during school age with self-reported within-pair differences in drinking, intoxication, and alcohol-related problems across adolescence and young adulthood. Data from 2 longitudinal population-based samples of twin families were used, with verbal developmental differences in childhood reported by the parents when the twins were 12 and 16 years of age, respectively. RESULTS: Conditional logistic regression analyses and within-pair correlation analyses suggested positive associations between verbal development and drinking behaviors in both data sets. In analyses adjusted for birth order and birth weight, the co-twin reported to be verbally more advanced in childhood tended to report more frequent drinking and intoxication in adolescence in both samples. Better verbal development also was associated with the likelihood of having friends who drink in adolescence. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that, adjusting for familial and other factors shared by co-twins, better verbal development in childhood predicts more frequent drinking and intoxication in adolescence and young adulthood, possibly due, in part, to peer associations.

The role of socioregional factors in moderating genetic influences on early adolescent behavior problems and alcohol use.

BACKGROUND: Twin and family studies have demonstrated that adolescent alcohol use and behavior problems are influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. More recently, studies have begun to investigate how genetic and environmental influences may interact, with efforts underway to identify specific environmental variables that moderate the expression of genetic predispositions. Previously, we have reported that community-level factors, including urban/rural residency, migration rates, and prevalence of young adults, moderate the importance of genetic effects on alcohol use in late adolescence (ages 16 to 18). Here, we extend these findings to test for moderating effects of these socioregional factors on alcohol use and behavior problems assessed in a younger sample of adolescent Finnish twins. METHODS: Using data from the population-based Finnish twin study, FinnTwin12, biometric twin models were fit to data on >1,400 twin pairs to examine the significance of each of the socioregional moderating variables on alcohol use measured at age 14, and behavior problems, measured at age 12. RESULTS: We find no evidence of a moderating role of these socioregional variables on alcohol use; however, there was significant moderation of genetic influences on behavior problems, with effects limited to girls. Genetic influences assumed greater importance in urban settings, communities with greater migration, and communities with a higher percentage of slightly older adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The moderation effects observed on behavior problems in early adolescence paralleled the effects found on alcohol use late in adolescence in an independent sample, providing further support for the idea that behavior problems may represent an earlier manifestation of the predisposition to subsequent alcohol problems. Our findings also support the growing body of evidence suggesting that females may be more susceptible to a variety of environmental influences than males.

Parental socialization and adolescents' alcohol use behaviors: predictive disparities in parents' versus adolescents' perceptions of the parenting environment.

Among adolescents, many parenting practices have been associated with the initiation and development of drinking behaviors. However, recent studies suggest discrepancies in parents' and adolescents' perceptions of parenting and their links with adolescent use. In this study, we derive two independent sets of underlying parenting profiles (based on parent and adolescent reported behaviors at age 11-12 years), which were then examined in relation to adolescents' drinking behaviors at ages 14 and 17(1/2). Results indicated that the two sets of profiles accounted for little shared variance, with those based on adolescents' reports being stronger predictors of adolescent drinking. Moreover, comparisons of drinking levels across profiles pointed to multiple parenting strategies that may effectively reduce adolescent alcohol experimentation, including simply sustaining a moderate level of awareness of adolescents' whereabouts and activities and avoiding excessive conflict and strictness.

Parental monitoring moderates the importance of genetic and environmental influences on adolescent smoking.

Although there is a substantial literature on the role of parenting in adolescent substance use, most parenting effects have been small in magnitude and studied outside the context of genetically informative designs, raising debate and controversy about the influence that parents have on their children (D. C. Rowe, 1994). Using a genetically informative twin-family design, the authors studied the role of parental monitoring on adolescent smoking at age 14. Although monitoring had only small main effects, consistent with the literature, there were dramatic moderation effects associated with parental monitoring: At high levels of parental monitoring, environmental influences were predominant in the etiology of adolescent smoking, but at low levels of parental monitoring, genetic influences assumed far greater importance. These analyses demonstrate that the etiology of adolescent smoking varies dramatically as a function of parenting.

Functional variant in a bitter-taste receptor (hTAS2R16) influences risk of alcohol dependence.

A coding single-nucleotide polymorphism (cSNP), K172N, in hTAS2R16, a gene encoding a taste receptor for bitter beta -glucopyranosides, shows significant association with alcohol dependence (P = .00018). This gene is located on chromosome 7q in a region reported elsewhere to exhibit linkage with alcohol dependence. The SNP is located in the putative ligand-binding domain and is associated with an increased sensitivity to many bitter beta -glucopyranosides in the presence of the N172 allele. Individuals with the ancestral allele K172 are at increased risk of alcohol dependence, regardless of ethnicity. However, this risk allele is uncommon in European Americans (minor-allele frequency [MAF] 0.6%), whereas 45% of African Americans carry the allele (MAF 26%), which makes it a much more significant risk factor in the African American population.