Intergenerational Transmission of Alcohol Involvement

描述(由申请人提供)：有酒精问题家族史的个人患酒精问题的风险更高，但酒精行为代代相传的具体机制尚不清楚。拟议研究的目的是调查联合儿童健康项目参与者的酗酒情况(即酒精使用和问题)及其代际传播，该项目是毛里求斯正在进行的一项为期三代的纵向研究。1972年，对1795名男性和女性3岁儿童进行了心理生理、营养、认知和气质因素的测试，同时对他们的第一代父母进行了心理社会变量的评估。这第二代人现在40岁了，他们和他们的配偶将接受终身饮酒以及相关的遗传、个性、文化、家庭、育儿和心理社会措施的评估。第三代后代在3到11岁的年龄段也表现出了良好的心理生理、营养、认知和气质因素。年龄在12岁或以上的第三代子女现在将接受早期饮酒及相关变量的评估，这些变量包括遗传、家族、同伴、文化和社会影响、个性和个人差异，以及心理社会、认知和行为变量。JCHP的多代数据集和独特的设置将使我们能够梳理出风险和保护因素之间复杂的相互作用，这种方式在酒精使用几乎普遍的美国样本中是做不到的。研究结果还将测试酒精问题发展的途径模型在多大程度上适用于非西方文化。这项拟议研究的三个具体目标是：1)创建一个丰富的数据集，用于测试三代人中酒精参与的机制，2)测试G3代后代早期开始饮酒的假设机制，以及3)测试G3代后代从开始饮酒到危险饮酒的进展机制。这项多代前瞻性研究有足够的力量和对儿童前体和酒精参与的全面评估，以理清个体差异、心理社会、生物、文化和遗传风险以及保护因素对酒精参与的复杂交互影响。对这些过程的了解将为今后的预防和减少危害研究和努力提供信息。 公共卫生相关性：这项研究提供了一个独特的机会，可以更好地了解生物、文化、家庭和心理社会风险和保护因素如何影响酒精参与的连续性和世代变化。这一新知识可能有助于更有效的预防计划，以减少酒精问题和紊乱。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Individuals with a family history of alcohol problems are at increased risk for developing alcohol problems, but the specific mechanisms by which alcohol behaviors are transmitted from one generation to the next are not well understood. The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate the development of alcohol involvement (i.e. alcohol use and problems) and its intergenerational transmission among participants in the Joint Child Health Project, an ongoing three-generational longitudinal study on the island of Mauritius. In 1972, a general sample cohort of 1,795 male and female 3 year-olds were tested on psycho-physiological, nutritional, cognitive, and temperamental factors, while their first-generation parents were assessed on psychosocial variables. This second generation is now 40 years old and along with their spouses will be assessed on measures of lifetime alcohol involvement and associated genetic, personality, cultural, familial, parenting, and psychosocial measures. The third-generation offspring also have been well characterized on psycho-physiological, nutritional, cognitive, and temperamental factors between the ages of 3 and 11 years. The third-generation offspring who are 12 years of age or older will now be assessed for early alcohol involvement and associated variables, including genetic, familial, peer, cultural, and social influences, personality and individual differences, and psychosocial, cognitive, and behavioral variables. The multigenerational dataset and unique setting of the JCHP will enable us to tease apart the complex interplay of risk and protective factors in ways that cannot be done in U.S. samples where alcohol use is nearly universal. Findings will also test the degree to which pathway models of the development of alcohol problems generalize to a non-Western culture. The three specific aims of the proposed study are: 1) to create a rich dataset for testing mechanisms of alcohol involvement over three generations, 2) to test hypothesized mechanisms for the early initiation of alcohol use in G3 offspring, and 3) to test mechanisms for the progression from initiation to hazardous drinking in G3 offspring. This multigenerational prospective study has sufficient power and comprehensive assessments of childhood precursors and alcohol involvement to disentangle the complex interactive effects of individual differences, psychosocial, biological, cultural, and genetic risk and protective factors on alcohol involvement. Knowledge of such processes will inform future prevention and harm reduction research and efforts. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This study offers a unique opportunity to better understand how biological, cultural, familial, and psychosocial risk and protective factors influence the continuity and change of alcohol involvement across generations. This new knowledge could contribute to more effective prevention programs for reducing alcohol problems and disorders.