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Lumpe E, Pascale A, Stephenson M, Barr P, Cooke ME, Latvala A, Maes HHM, Aaltonen S, Piirtola M, Viken R, Rose RJ, Sipilä PN, Keski-Rahkonen A, Vuoksimaa E, Kaprio J, Dick DM, Salvatore JE. Etiology and correlates of alcohol misuse in early midlife. ALCOHOL, CLINICAL & EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH 2024. [PMID: 39704247 DOI: 10.1111/acer.15513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 12/02/2024] [Indexed: 12/21/2024]
Abstract
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. METHODS Participants were 1446 Finnish twin pairs and 748 nonpaired Finnish twins with mean age 34 years. The alcohol misuse index was a composite measure of frequency of use, intoxication, heavy episodic drinking, and alcohol problems assessed with the Malmö-modified Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and the Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index. Early midlife correlates included relationship status and length, family formation, unemployment status, education level, self-rated health, pain, sleeping difficulties, life satisfaction, psychological health, and other substance use. We employed a sex-limitation model to estimate early midlife heritability. Linear and fixed effects regression models were used for individual and cotwin comparison analyses, respectively. RESULTS Additive genetic (A) and unique environmental (E) components of alcohol misuse variance differed across sex (Females: A = 62%, E = 38%; Males: A = 49%, E = 51%). In individual-based analyses, higher scores on the alcohol misuse index were associated with lower relationship stability, financial situation, education level, self-rated health, physical fitness, life satisfaction and psychological health, and higher self-reported pain, sleep difficulties, unemployment rates and other substance use (R2 = 0.008-0.12). Associations remained significant in cotwin comparison analyses (R2 = 0.004-0.10) except for financial situation and education level. CONCLUSIONS There is evidence of sex differences in the etiological factors that influence early midlife drinking. After controlling for confounding familial factors, associations between alcohol misuse and poorer early midlife functioning largely remained, suggesting that alcohol misuse may play a role in poorer functioning across several outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin Lumpe
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Angela Pascale
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Mallory Stephenson
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Peter Barr
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA
| | - Megan E Cooke
- Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Antti Latvala
- Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Hermine H M Maes
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Sari Aaltonen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Maarit Piirtola
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Tampere, Finland
| | - Richard Viken
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Richard J Rose
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
| | - Pyry N Sipilä
- Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Eero Vuoksimaa
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jaakko Kaprio
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Danielle M Dick
- Rutgers Addiction Research Center, Rutgers Brain Health Institute, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
| | - Jessica E Salvatore
- Department of Psychiatry, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA
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Sánchez-Luquez KY, Carpena MX, Karam SM, Martins-Silva T, Barros FC, de Oliveira IO, Santos IS, Barros AJD, Matijasevich A, Tovo-Rodrigues L. Evaluation of genomic factors and early childhood stimulation on intelligence in children from a Brazilian birth cohort: The primary role of independent factors. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2024; 131:110932. [PMID: 38169242 DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2023.110932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Childhood cognitive abilities are a predictor of health outcomes and adult income potential. Identifying factors associated with childhood intelligence and their interactions is essential in behavioral research. We assessed the impact of genetic variants and early child stimulation (ECS) on child intelligence and examined their possible interaction as potential modifiers of IQ in a population-based longitudinal study. METHODS Participants of the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort study (N = 4231) underwent intelligent quotient (IQ) by WISC-III assessment at 6 years of age. At 24 and 48-months, mothers answered five ECS marker questions, whose sum was used to create a score. The polygenic score for intelligence (IQ-PGS) was constructed from the GWAS-weighted estimate of cognition. Association was assessed using multiple linear regression models adjusted for maternal, family, and child confounding variables. To explore the possible influence of skin color and ethnoracial classification, the regression models were stratified according to the skin color variable, as a sensitivity analysis. RESULTS In the adjusted analysis, IQ-PGS (β = 0.79, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.26;1.31) as well as ECS (β = 2.34; 95% CI: 1.76;2.92) were associated with IQ in this sample. The association between IQ-PGS and IQ was significant only in the white Brazilian group in the sensitivity analysis. However, there was no interaction between IQ-PGS and ECS on IQ (p(IQ-PGS x ECS) = 0.46). CONCLUSIONS ECS did not modify the impact of genetic potential on intellectual development during childhood, suggesting that genetic factors and ECS exert independent effects on the IQ levels of children.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marina Xavier Carpena
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil; Human Development and Violence Research Centre (DOVE), Federal University of Pelotas, Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Simone M Karam
- Department of Pediatrics, Medicine Faculty, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil
| | - Thais Martins-Silva
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil; Human Development and Violence Research Centre (DOVE), Federal University of Pelotas, Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Fernando C Barros
- Post Graduate Program in Health in the Vital Cycle, Catholic University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Isabel O de Oliveira
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Iná S Santos
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Aluísio J D Barros
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Alicia Matijasevich
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil; Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil
| | - Luciana Tovo-Rodrigues
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil; Human Development and Violence Research Centre (DOVE), Federal University of Pelotas, Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Pelotas, Brazil.
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Williamson B, Kotouza D, Pickersgill M, Pykett J. Infrastructuring Educational Genomics: Associations, Architectures, and Apparatuses. POSTDIGITAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION 2024; 6:1143-1172. [PMID: 39759182 PMCID: PMC11698303 DOI: 10.1007/s42438-023-00451-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 01/07/2025]
Abstract
Technoscientific transformations in molecular genomics have begun to influence knowledge production in education. Interdisciplinary scientific consortia are seeking to identify 'genetic influences' on 'educationally relevant' traits, behaviors, and outcomes. This article examines the emerging 'knowledge infrastructure' of educational genomics, attending to the assembly and choreography of organizational associations, epistemic architecture, and technoscientific apparatuses implicated in the generation of genomic understandings from masses of bioinformation. As an infrastructure of datafied knowledge production, educational genomics is embedded in data-centered epistemologies and practices which recast educational problems in terms of molecular genetic associations-insights about which are deemed discoverable from digital bioinformation and potentially open to genetically informed interventions in policy and practice. While scientists claim to be 'opening the black box of the genome' and its association with educational outcomes, we open the black box of educational genomics itself as a source of emerging scientific authority. Data-intensive educational genomics does not straightforwardly 'discover' the biological bases of educationally relevant behaviors and outcomes. Rather, this knowledge infrastructure is also an experimental 'ontological infrastructure' supporting particular ways of knowing, understanding, explaining, and intervening in education, and recasting the human subjects of education as being surveyable and predictable through the algorithmic processing of bioinformation.
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Burt CH. Challenging the utility of polygenic scores for social science: Environmental confounding, downward causation, and unknown biology. Behav Brain Sci 2022; 46:e207. [PMID: 35551690 PMCID: PMC9653522 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x22001145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The sociogenomics revolution is upon us, we are told. Whether revolutionary or not, sociogenomics is poised to flourish given the ease of incorporating polygenic scores (or PGSs) as "genetic propensities" for complex traits into social science research. Pointing to evidence of ubiquitous heritability and the accessibility of genetic data, scholars have argued that social scientists not only have an opportunity but a duty to add PGSs to social science research. Social science research that ignores genetics is, some proponents argue, at best partial and likely scientifically flawed, misleading, and wasteful. Here, I challenge arguments about the value of genetics for social science and with it the claimed necessity of incorporating PGSs into social science models as measures of genetic influences. In so doing, I discuss the impracticability of distinguishing genetic influences from environmental influences because of non-causal gene-environment correlations, especially population stratification, familial confounding, and downward causation. I explain how environmental effects masquerade as genetic influences in PGSs, which undermines their raison d'être as measures of genetic propensity, especially for complex socially contingent behaviors that are the subject of sociogenomics. Additionally, I draw attention to the partial, unknown biology, while highlighting the persistence of an implicit, unavoidable reductionist genes versus environments approach. Leaving sociopolitical and ethical concerns aside, I argue that the potential scientific rewards of adding PGSs to social science are few and greatly overstated and the scientific costs, which include obscuring structural disadvantages and cultural influences, outweigh these meager benefits for most social science applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Callie H Burt
- Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology, Center for Research on Interpersonal Violence (CRIV), Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA ; www.callieburt.org
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5
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Ariansen AMS. "Quiet is the New Loud": The Biosociology Debate's Absent Voices. THE AMERICAN SOCIOLOGIST 2021; 52:477-504. [PMID: 34099943 PMCID: PMC8172560 DOI: 10.1007/s12108-021-09494-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In 2000, a controversial article about hormones and gender roles was published to stimulate debate about whether and how biological knowledge should be integrated in sociological research. Two decades later, this so-called biosociology debate is more relevant than ever, as biological knowledge has become widespread across societies and scientific disciplines. Hence, we as sociologists are regularly confronted with biological explanations that challenge our own explanations. Whether this happens in the scientific arena, the classroom, media, or even at social events, these situations often force us, individually, to take a stance on whether to meet such explanations with dialogue or opposition. One could therefore expect that sociologists have an interest in discussing these issues with their peers, but their lack of participation in the biosociology debate suggests otherwise. This paper explores possible reasons for this absence and how sociologists' views on biosociology are influenced by key agents - sociological associations and journals. Smith's "A Sacred project of American Sociology", and Scott's "A Sociology of Nothing" served as theoretical tools in the paper. A qualitative content analysis of presidential addresses of four sociological associations was conducted. The analyses suggest that sociologist avoid biosociology for widely different reasons, including fear that biosociology legitimizes oppression. This avoidance is probably reinforced by the leftish politization of the sociological discipline and the rightish politization of society. Overcoming obstacles to engagement in biosociology is required to safeguard the scientific integrity of sociology and enable sociologists to provide relevant contributions to research on the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.
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Salvatore JE, Larsson Lönn S, Sundquist J, Sundquist K, Kendler KS. Disentangling Social-Genetic From Rearing-Environment Effects for Alcohol Use Disorder Using Swedish National Data. Psychol Sci 2020; 31:1140-1149. [PMID: 32816617 DOI: 10.1177/0956797620931542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Investigations of social-genetic effects, whereby a social partner's genotype affects another's outcomes, can be confounded by the influence of the social partner's rearing environment. We used marital information on more than 300,000 couples from Swedish national data to disentangle social-genetic from rearing-environment effects for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Using observational and extended-family designs, we found that (a) marriage to a spouse with a predisposition toward AUD (as indexed by a parental history of AUD) increased risk for developing AUD; (b) this increased risk was not explained by socioeconomic status, the spouse's AUD status, or contact with the spouse's parents; and (c) this increased risk reflected the psychological consequences of the spouse having grown up with an AUD-affected parent (i.e., a rearing-environment effect) rather than a social-genetic effect. Findings illustrate that a spouse's rearing-environment exposures may confer risk for AUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica E Salvatore
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University.,Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University
| | | | - Jan Sundquist
- Center for Primary Health Care Research, Lund University
| | | | - Kenneth S Kendler
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University.,Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University.,Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University
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Governance and Assessment of Future Spaces: A Discussion of Some Issues Raised by the Possibilities of Human–Machine Mergers. Development 2019. [DOI: 10.1057/s41301-019-00208-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
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Fishman SH. Do Plans Really Matter?: Re-Assessing the Role of Adolescent Expectations in Educational Attainment. RESEARCH IN SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND MOBILITY 2019; 62:10.1016/j.rssm.2019.05.002. [PMID: 32123462 PMCID: PMC7050998 DOI: 10.1016/j.rssm.2019.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Stratification research in the status attainment tradition contends that adolescent educational expectations are a central determinant of educational attainment. Little research, however, has assessed the robustness of the powerful expectations-attainment associations revealed in cross-sectional models. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to estimate OLS, school fixed effects, and sibling fixed effects models, this study examines the association between adolescent expectations and educational attainment. The analysis reveals that adolescent expectations may play a much smaller role in predicting educational attainment than revealed in cross-sectional models. Point estimates of the association between adolescent expectations and educational attainment from sibling fixed effects models are over 50 percent lower than OLS estimates, suggesting that family-level characteristics confound this relationship. Results from these analyses demonstrate that respondents' educational expectations likely exert less influence on educational attainment than status attainment research would suggest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel H Fishman
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 155 Hamilton Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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Nagata JM, Braudt DB, Domingue BW, Bibbins-Domingo K, Garber AK, Griffiths S, Murray SB. Genetic risk, body mass index, and weight control behaviors: Unlocking the triad. Int J Eat Disord 2019; 52:825-833. [PMID: 30994932 PMCID: PMC6609475 DOI: 10.1002/eat.23083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2018] [Revised: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/03/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The relationship between genetic risk for body mass index (BMI) and weight control behaviors remains unknown. The objectives of this study were to determine the association between genetic risk for BMI and weight control behaviors in young adults, and to examine actual measured BMI as a potential mediator variable. METHOD We analyzed data from three data collection waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The BMI polygenic score (PGS) was based on published genome-wide association studies for BMI. BMI was collected at 11-18 years and 18-26 years. Weight control behaviors included self-reported: (a) weight loss behaviors (dieting, vomiting, fasting/skipping meals, diet pills, laxatives, or diuretic use to lose weight) and (b) weight gain behaviors (eating more or different foods than normal, taking supplements to gain weight). RESULTS Among 4,397 participants, the BMI PGS was associated with higher odds of weight loss behaviors in females (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.14-1.35) and males (OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.26-1.62), and this association was mediated by BMI (indirect effect 0.04, 95% CI 0.03-0.05 in females and 0.03, 95% CI 0.03-0.04 in males). The BMI PGS was associated with lower odds of weight gain behaviors in females and males, which was also mediated by actual BMI. CONCLUSIONS The BMI PGS was associated with weight loss behaviors in both males and females, and this association was mediated by actual measured BMI. Clinical interventions to prevent high BMI, particularly for individuals with genetic risk, may also prevent subsequent development of potentially unhealthy weight loss behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason M. Nagata
- Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
| | - David B. Braudt
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC,Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
| | | | - Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA,Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
| | - Andrea K. Garber
- Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
| | - Scott Griffiths
- Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Stuart B. Murray
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
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