Genes Are Not Our Destiny

Image A: pills being distributed out of a bottle into a hand

Week 8 - Genes are not our destiny. Explain using addiction as an example.

A study conducted by Enoch (2013) investigated the influence of the GABRA2 gene and childhood trauma on addiction vulnerability, in a sample of African American men (N=635). The GABRA2 gene is one of the ionotropic receptors which relates to behavioural disorders, including substance dependence.

In the present study, childhood trauma had the least impact on heroin dependence, yet a strong impact on cocaine dependence. The results indicated that patients with heroin, alcohol, and cocaine dependence had experienced significantly more childhood trauma compared to controls. Similarly, animal studies found that rats subjected to early life stress have increased cocaine sensitisation, and perhaps an altered pattern of distribution of GABRA2. The researchers found their hypothesis to be true, which states that GABRA2, childhood trauma, and their interaction influence vulnerability to substance dependence, at least in African American men as this is the only group they tested.

The latter finding is that the greater the severity of childhood trauma the greater the likelihood of poly-substance dependence. This finding is supported by Spatz Widom et al.'s (2006) study which revealed the long-term impact of childhood victimisation on drug use in mid-adulthood. Previous research also indicated that childhood maltreatment is related to subsequent illicit drug use in young adulthood, in which some associations differ by gender. In females, childhood neglect was associated with a higher likelihood of illicit drug use within the past year in young adulthood. Although, this finding was not significant once the effect of illicit drug use in adolescence was statistically controlled for.

In summary, early life stress / childhood trauma, in combination with genetics, has a strong impact on individuals' addiction vulnerability and substance dependence, rebutting the opinion that only genes determine our behaviour.

References

Enoch, M. A. (2013). Genetic influences on the development of alcoholism. Current psychiatry reports, 15(11), 412.

Spatz Widom, C., Marmorstein, N. R., & Raskin White, H. (2006). Childhood victimization and illicit drug use in middle adulthood. Psychology of addictive behaviors, 20(4), 394.

Thank you for reading!

Signing off,

burnt toast, sweet tea;