Mood-related drinking motives mediate the familial association between major depression and alcohol dependence

Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2009 Aug;33(8):1476-86. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.00978.x. Epub 2009 May 4.

Abstract

Background: Major depression and alcohol dependence co-occur within individuals and families to a higher than expected degree. This study investigated whether mood-related drinking motives mediate the association between major depression and alcohol dependence, and what the genetic and environmental bases are for this relationship.

Methods: The sample included 5,181 individuals from the Virginia Adult Twin Study of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders, aged 30 and older. Participants completed a clinical interview which assessed lifetime major depression, alcohol dependence, and mood-related drinking motives.

Results: Mood-related drinking motives significantly explained the depression-alcohol dependence relationship at both the phenotypic and familial levels. Results from twin analyses indicated that for both males and females, the familial factors underlying mood-related drinking motives accounted for virtually all of the familial variance that overlaps between depression and alcohol dependence.

Conclusions: The results are consistent with an indirect role for mood-related drinking motives in the etiology of depression and alcohol dependence, and suggest that mood-related drinking motives may be a useful index of vulnerability for these conditions.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Twin Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Affect / physiology*
  • Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology
  • Alcohol Drinking / psychology
  • Alcoholism / complications
  • Alcoholism / epidemiology
  • Alcoholism / psychology*
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / complications
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / epidemiology
  • Depressive Disorder, Major / psychology*
  • Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry)
  • Diseases in Twins / complications
  • Diseases in Twins / epidemiology
  • Diseases in Twins / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Motivation*