Component 9: Ehiers

拟议研究的总体目标是加强对风险之间关系的了解。 以及墨西哥裔美国年轻人酗酒和酒精使用障碍的保护因素。这 该项目将是我们之前在这一人群中进行的试点调查的延伸。拉美裔是第二个 美国最大的少数民族群体，也是圣地亚哥市最大的少数民族，但也是生物心理社会 在这一人群中，酒精问题的脆弱性因素仍然相对未知。我们现在有 初步数据表明，一系列不同的风险因素可能与酗酒和 墨西哥裔美国年轻人中的酒精使用障碍。这些相关因素包括：发病年龄 饮酒、低电压EEC变异体的存在、预脉冲的电生理和行为测量 惊吓反应的抑制，与其他精神障碍的共病，压力和压力的测量 文化适应，以及该种群特有的酒精代谢酶的分布。我们建议 增加参与者人数，以便有足够的力量全面评估我们的调查结果。另外， 我们将利用我们的数据将这些发现转化为有效的动物模型的开发。此外，我们还 将在人类身上测试与压力有关的赠款的整体理论结构，发展 墨西哥裔美国人中的酗酒和酒精依赖。这项研究具有 有可能提供关键信息以了解选定的遗传和环境因素 居住在旧金山的墨西哥裔美国男性和女性之间的酒精使用障碍的相互作用 迭戈县。归根结底，更好地理解与酒精相关行为相关的因素 在墨西哥，美国人将为了解酗酒的原因提供重要信息 和依赖性，并最终可能有助于发展有效的和文化敏感的 预防和干预计划。

The overall objective of the proposed research is to enhance understanding of the relationship between risk and protective factors for binge drinking and alcohol use disorders in Mexican American young adults. This project will be an extension of our previous pilot investigations in this population. Hispanics are the second largest ethnic minority group in the U.S. and the largest in the city of San Diego, yet biopsychosocial vulnerability factors for alcohol problems in this population remain relatively unexplored. We now have preliminary data that suggests a distinct cluster of risk factors may be associated with binge drinking and alcohol use disorders in Mexican American young adults. These associated factors include: age of onset of drinking, the presence of low voltage EEC variants, electrophysiological and behavioral measures of prepulse inhibition of the startle response, co-morbidity with other psychiatric disorders, measures of stress and acculturation, and distributions of alcohol metabolizing enzymes unique to this population. We propose to increase the participant population in order to have enough power to fully evaluate our findings. Additionally, we will be using our data to translate the findings to the development of valid animal models. In addition we will be testing, in humans, the overall theoretical construct of the grant related to stress, the development of binge drinking, and alcohol dependence in this population of Mexican Americans. This study has the potential to provide critical information for understanding how select genetic and environmental factors might interact in the development of alcohol use disorders among Mexican American men and women living in San Diego County. Ultimately, a better understanding of the factors associated with alcohol associated behaviors in Mexican Americans will contribute important information for understanding the causes of alcohol abuse and dependence and might ultimately aid in the development of efficacious and culturally sensitive prevention and intervention programs.