#8 - Investigation of a gene environment interaction - Psychological Science http/pss.sagepub.com A Variable-Number-of-Tandem-Repeats Polymorphism in

http://pss.sagepub.com/ Psychological Science http://pss.sagepub.com/content/21/8/1064 The online version of this article can be found at: DOI: 10.1177/0956797610376654 2010 21: 1064 originally published online 7 July 2010 Psychological Science Helle Larsen, Carmen S. van der Zwaluw, Geertjan Overbeek, Isabela Granic, Barbara Franke and Rutger C.M.E. Engels Adaptation of Alcohol Use : Investigation of a Gene-Environment Interaction A Variable-Number-of-Tandem-Repeats Polymorphism in the Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene Affects Social Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: Association for Psychological Science can be found at: Psychological Science Additional services and information for http://pss.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts: http://pss.sagepub.com/subscriptions Subscriptions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Permissions: at PURDUE UNIV LIBRARY TSS on January 10, 2011 pss.sagepub.com Downloaded from

This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version.

View Full Document

Psychological Science 21(8) 1064–1068 © The Author(s) 2010 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0956797610376654 http://pss.sagepub.com Alcohol consumption often takes place at bars, discos, night clubs, and parties—settings that are packed with alcohol- related cues, such as beverage marketing, advertisements, drinks placed on a bar, and other people drinking alcoholic beverages. Noticing the drinking patterns of other people sets norms that are used as guidelines for a person’s own drinking pattern: the choice between drinking alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages; the type of alcoholic beverage preferred; and the frequency, amount, and speed of drinking. Research demon- strates that people indeed show a remarkable level of adapta- tion to other people’s drinking behavior (Bot, Engels, Knibbe, & Meeus, 2007; Larsen, Engels, Granic, & Overbeek, 2009; Quigley & Collins, 1999). Experimental and observational studies demonstrate that individuals who drink alcohol together often match one another in terms of what beverages they drink, how much they drink, and the pace at which they drink (Bot et al., 2007; Caudill & Kong, 2001; Caudill & Marlatt, 1975; Collins, Parks, & Marlatt, 1985; Larsen et al., 2009; Quigley & Collins, 1999). Nevertheless, there are individual differences in the extent to which people are susceptible to these social drinking cues. In heavy-drinking contexts, such as bars and fraternity par- ties, some individuals appear to base their alcohol consump- tion entirely on that of their company, whereas others follow their own pattern of drinking (Larsen et al., 2009). According to Shanahan and Hofer (2005), social contexts can trigger a genetic predisposition. Hence, individual differences in sus- ceptibility to drinking cues might be related to genetic makeup. Corresponding Author: Helle Larsen, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands E-mail: [email protected] A Variable-Number-of-Tandem-Repeats Polymorphism in the Dopamine D4 Receptor Gene Affects Social Adaptation of Alcohol Use: Investigation of a Gene-Environment Interaction Helle Larsen 1 , Carmen S. van der Zwaluw 1