ALDH2, ADH1B and Alcohol Expectancies in Asian Americans

描述（由申请人提供）：最近的证据表明，亚裔美国人酗酒和酒精使用障碍的比率正在上升。ALDH2和ADH1B基因型的多态性被证明会影响亚洲人的酒精敏感性和饮酒行为，然而，很少有研究试图在酒精使用的社会心理理论背景下检查遗传因素。本研究的首要目的是确定遗传因素影响亚裔美国人饮酒的心理社会机制。本文提出，酒精期望理论提供了一个站得住脚的概念框架，通过该框架可以理解遗传对饮酒的影响，并且对酒精“脸红反应”的特定期望（即生理期望）介导了遗传对饮酒的影响。在研究1中，将采用定性方法来开发一种新的生理预期测量方法，该方法专门针对与ALHD2和ADH1B基因型变异相关的潮红反应。研究2试图在300名亚裔美国人的样本中验证这一措施。研究3将从一项正在进行的大学生饮酒研究中招募180名华裔和韩裔美国本科生，并将采用基因分型程序来确定ALDH2和ADH1B状态。遗传因素和预期之间的关系将被检查，预期将被评估为遗传对饮酒影响的中介。还将审查种族和性别差异。通过联合检查与饮酒相关的遗传和社会心理因素，本研究旨在进一步研究亚裔美国人饮酒病因的生物心理社会学解释。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent evidence suggests increasing rates of heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders among Asian Americans. Polymorphisms in ALDH2 and ADH1B genotypes are demonstrated to influence alcohol sensitivity and drinking behavior in Asians, however, few studies have attempted to examine genetic factors in context with psychosocial theories of alcohol use. The overarching aim of this research is to identify psychosocial mechanisms by which genetic factors influence drinking in Asian Americans. It is proposed that alcohol expectancy theory offers a tenable conceptual framework through which genetic effects on drinking may be understood, and that expectancies specific to the "flushing response" to alcohol (i.e., physiological expectancies) mediate genetic influences on drinking. In Study 1, qualitative methods will be employed to develop a novel measure of physiological expectancies specific to the flushing response associated with variation in ALHD2 and ADH1B genotypes. Study 2 seeks to validate this measure in a sample of 300 Asian Americans. Study 3 will recruit 180 Chinese- and Korean-American undergraduates from an ongoing study of college student drinking and will employ genotyping procedures to establish ALDH2 and ADH1B status. Relationships between genetic factors and expectancies will be examined, and expectancies will be evaluated as a mediator of genetic effects on drinking. Ethnic and gender differences will also be examined. By jointly examining genetic and psychosocial factors related to drinking, this research aims to further a biopsychosocial account of alcohol use etiology in Asian Americans.