Shared genetic and environmental etiology between substance use disorders and suicidal behavior
(2023) In Psychological Medicine 53(6). p.2380-2388- Abstract
Background Previous studies have demonstrated substantial associations between substance use disorders (SUD) and suicidal behavior. The current study empirically assesses the extent to which shared genetic and/or environmental factors contribute to associations between alcohol use disorders (AUD) or drug use disorders (DUD) and suicidal behavior, including attempts and death. Methods The authors used Swedish national registry data, including medical, pharmacy, criminal, and death registrations, for a large cohort of twins, full siblings, and half siblings (N = 1 314 990) born 1960-1980 and followed through 2017. They conducted twin-sibling modeling of suicide attempt (SA) or suicide death (SD) with AUD and DUD to estimate genetic and... (More)
Background Previous studies have demonstrated substantial associations between substance use disorders (SUD) and suicidal behavior. The current study empirically assesses the extent to which shared genetic and/or environmental factors contribute to associations between alcohol use disorders (AUD) or drug use disorders (DUD) and suicidal behavior, including attempts and death. Methods The authors used Swedish national registry data, including medical, pharmacy, criminal, and death registrations, for a large cohort of twins, full siblings, and half siblings (N = 1 314 990) born 1960-1980 and followed through 2017. They conducted twin-sibling modeling of suicide attempt (SA) or suicide death (SD) with AUD and DUD to estimate genetic and environmental correlations between outcomes. Analyses were stratified by sex. Results Genetic correlations between SA and SUD ranged from rA = 0.60-0.88; corresponding shared environmental correlations were rC = 0.42-0.89 but accounted for little overall variance; and unique environmental correlations were rE = 0.42-0.57. When replacing attempt with SD, genetic and shared environmental correlations with AUD and DUD were comparable (rA = 0.48-0.72, rC = 0.92-1.00), but were attenuated for unique environmental factors (rE = -0.01 to 0.31). Conclusions These findings indicate that shared genetic and unique environmental factors contribute to comorbidity of suicidal behavior and SUD, in conjunction with previously reported causal associations. Thus, each outcome should be considered an indicator of risk for the others. Opportunities for joint prevention and intervention, while limited by the polygenic nature of these outcomes, may be feasible considering moderate environmental correlations between SA and SUD.
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- author
- Edwards, Alexis C. LU ; Ohlsson, Henrik LU ; Lannoy, Séverine ; Stephenson, Mallory ; Crump, Casey LU ; Sundquist, Jan LU ; Sundquist, Kristina LU and Kendler, Kenneth S.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Alcohol use disorder, drug use disorder, shared liability, substance use disorders, suicidal behavior, suicide attempt, suicide death, twin modeling
- in
- Psychological Medicine
- volume
- 53
- issue
- 6
- pages
- 2380 - 2388
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:37310307
- scopus:85119267504
- ISSN
- 0033-2917
- DOI
- 10.1017/S0033291721004256
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 2b444494-ece3-487f-87aa-079ab65ee978
- date added to LUP
- 2021-12-13 14:49:19
- date last changed
- 2024-04-20 18:40:05
@article{2b444494-ece3-487f-87aa-079ab65ee978,
abstract = {{<p>Background Previous studies have demonstrated substantial associations between substance use disorders (SUD) and suicidal behavior. The current study empirically assesses the extent to which shared genetic and/or environmental factors contribute to associations between alcohol use disorders (AUD) or drug use disorders (DUD) and suicidal behavior, including attempts and death. Methods The authors used Swedish national registry data, including medical, pharmacy, criminal, and death registrations, for a large cohort of twins, full siblings, and half siblings (N = 1 314 990) born 1960-1980 and followed through 2017. They conducted twin-sibling modeling of suicide attempt (SA) or suicide death (SD) with AUD and DUD to estimate genetic and environmental correlations between outcomes. Analyses were stratified by sex. Results Genetic correlations between SA and SUD ranged from rA = 0.60-0.88; corresponding shared environmental correlations were rC = 0.42-0.89 but accounted for little overall variance; and unique environmental correlations were rE = 0.42-0.57. When replacing attempt with SD, genetic and shared environmental correlations with AUD and DUD were comparable (rA = 0.48-0.72, rC = 0.92-1.00), but were attenuated for unique environmental factors (rE = -0.01 to 0.31). Conclusions These findings indicate that shared genetic and unique environmental factors contribute to comorbidity of suicidal behavior and SUD, in conjunction with previously reported causal associations. Thus, each outcome should be considered an indicator of risk for the others. Opportunities for joint prevention and intervention, while limited by the polygenic nature of these outcomes, may be feasible considering moderate environmental correlations between SA and SUD. </p>}},
author = {{Edwards, Alexis C. and Ohlsson, Henrik and Lannoy, Séverine and Stephenson, Mallory and Crump, Casey and Sundquist, Jan and Sundquist, Kristina and Kendler, Kenneth S.}},
issn = {{0033-2917}},
keywords = {{Alcohol use disorder; drug use disorder; shared liability; substance use disorders; suicidal behavior; suicide attempt; suicide death; twin modeling}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
pages = {{2380--2388}},
publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}},
series = {{Psychological Medicine}},
title = {{Shared genetic and environmental etiology between substance use disorders and suicidal behavior}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0033291721004256}},
doi = {{10.1017/S0033291721004256}},
volume = {{53}},
year = {{2023}},
}