title: Spit for Science: launching a longitudinal study of genetic and environmental influences on substance use and emotional health at a large US university.
abstract: Finding genes involved in complex behavioral outcomes, and understanding the pathways by which they confer risk, is a challenging task, necessitating large samples that are phenotypically well characterized across time. We describe an effort to create a university-wide research project aimed at understanding how genes and environments impact alcohol use and related substance use and mental health outcomes across time in college students. Nearly 70% of the incoming freshman class (N = 2715) completed on-line surveys, with 80% of the students from the fall completing spring follow-ups. 98% of eligible participants also gave DNA. The participants closely approximated the university population in terms of gender and racial/ethnic composition. Here we provide initial results on alcohol use outcomes from the first wave of the sample, as well as associated predictor variables. We discuss the potential for this kind of research to advance our understanding of genetic and environment influences on substance use and mental health outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Danielle M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Dick
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of African American Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Aashir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nasim
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Alexis C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Jessica E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Salvatore
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Seung B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adkins
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Jacquelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clifford
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Neeru
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Goyal
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Halberstadt
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ailstock
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Zoe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Neale
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Opalesky
authors.affiliation: The Wellness Resource Center, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.affiliation: The Wellness Resource Center, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Kristen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Donovan
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Cuie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Brien
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kendler
keywords: alcohol; drugs; environment; genes; health; students