Luczak SE, et al. – The current study was expected to explore whether the pathway from age of drinking initiation (ADI) to alcohol use disorder (AUD) symptoms by early adulthood is moderated by ethnicity and possessing an alcohol–metabolizing gene ALDH2*2 variant allele. Findings revealed that ethnicity and ALDH2*2 altered the relationship of ADI as a risk factor for AUD symptoms. Being Chinese and possessing an ALDH2*2 allele within Koreans both buffered against the risk for AUD symptoms related to earlier ADI, showing that this association can be attenuated by protective factors.

Methods

• For the purpose of this study, the researchers utilized multigroup structural equation modeling, including five groups split by ethnicity and ALDH2*2, to investigate the consistency of the path from ADI to AUD symptoms in six hundred four Chinese-, Korean-, and White-American college students.
• In addition, the effects of ALDH2*2, ethnicity, and their interaction in Asians were examined to better understand their unique contributions to the moderation.

Results

• The study results showed that the relationship between ADI and AUD symptoms was moderated, with ADI negatively connected with AUD symptoms among Koreans without ALDH2*2 and Whites, but not among Koreans with ALDH2*2or Chinese regardless of ALDH2*2.
• It was observed in the findings that both ALDH2*2 and ethnicity within Asians contributed unique variability in the effect.