How Are Genes Related to Culture? An Introduction to the Field of Cultural Genomics

Examining interactions between genetic risk for alcohol problems, peer deviance, and interpersonal traumatic events on trajectories of alcohol use disorder symptoms among African American college students

“…Given differences in rates of alcohol use and related consequences across racial/ethnic groups (Chartier & Caetano, 2010;Mulia, Greenfield, & Zemore, 2009), as well as potential racial/ethnic differences in pathways of risk to alcohol and related problems (Akins, Smith, & Moshe, 2010;Meyers et al, 2018), it is important to study G Â E processes that impact risk for alcohol use disorders in all racial groups so that all can benefit from the research and intervention/prevention efforts. This also aligns with a cultural genomics approach by examining the interplay of genes and environments across and within different cultural groups (Causadias & Korous, 2018).…”

“…It is possible that the patterns of GÂE effects previously observed in European Americans are not generalizable to African Americans (Olfson et al, 2014;Sartor et al, 2014). It is also possible that, other cultural risk and protective factors relevant to African Americans, such as racial discrimination and religiosity (Causadias, 2013;Causadias & Korous, 2018;Obasi, Wilborn, Cavanagh, Yan, & Ewane, 2018), are potential moderators of genetic risk for alcohol problems and related outcomes within this population (Brody et al, 2011). Alternatively, our null finding of G ÂE effects could be due to low predictive power of our alcohol dependence genome-wide polygenic risk scores as discussed above.…”

“…We focused on peer deviance and interpersonal traumatic events because they are well-documented environmental risk factors for alcohol problems (Hawkins et al, 1992;Read et al, 2012) and have been well studied in GÂE studies using samples of European Americans (Dick & Kendler, 2012). Although our study represents a first step in integrating culture to developmental psychopathology using a cultural genomic approach by focusing on a sample of African American college students (Causadias, 2013;Causadias & Korous, 2018), we note that we did not assess culture directly. There are other environmental stressors (e.g., experiences of racial discrimination and daily microaggressions) that are salient risk factors for alcohol and related problems among African Americans (Williams et al, 2010).…”

“…Finally, there are important differences in genetic diversity, allele frequencies, and linkage disequilibrium patterns between European Americans and African Americans (Campbell & Tishkoff, 2008;Gabriel et al, 2002;Rosenberg et al, 2010), implying potential differences in the effects of specific genes on phenotypes such as alcohol use. Together, these differences in environmental, cultural processes, and genetic factors between European Americans and African Americans suggest that the G Â E processes linking to alcohol outcomes may vary across groups, and it is important to take a cultural genomic approach to understand the G Â E processes within cultural groups (Causadias & Korous, 2018).…”

Polygenic risk, family cohesion, and adolescent aggression in Mexican American and European American families: Developmental pathways to alcohol use

“…This is an important endeavor as genes and culture are both embedded within the family in shaping offspring behavior (Boyd & Richerson, 1985). There is also emerging evidence of gene-culture interplay, including evocative gene-culture correlations (rGCs) in which genetic predispositions evoke culturally-embedded familial processes (Causadias & Korous, 2017). Within this framework, psychopathology can result from the multi-level interplay between genetic, individual, familial, and cultural influences (Cicchetti & Dawson, 2002).…”