Potential causal effect of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on alcohol use disorder and alcohol consumption in individuals of European descent: A Mendelian Randomization Study

CONCLUSIONS: These findings are consistent with the self-medication model, in which individuals misuse alcohol as a way of coping with aversive trauma-related symptoms. These findings extend latent and molecular findings of shared and correlated risk between PTSD and alcohol phenotypes. Given the health behaviors associated with these phenotypes, these findings are important in that they suggest groups on which to prioritize prevention efforts. Further, they provide a rationale for future pre-clinical and clinical studies examining the biological mechanisms by which PTSD may impact AUD.PMID:34120358 | DOI:10.1111/acer.14649

Source: Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research - June 13, 2021 Category: Addiction Authors: Kaitlin E Bountress Frank Wendt Daniel Bustamante Arpana Agrawal Bradley Webb Nathan Gillespie Howard Edenberg Christina Sheerin Emma Johnson Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Working Group Renato Polimanti Ananda Amstadter Source Type: research