There is emerging evidence to suggest that variation in some stress-related genes may moderate the risk for psychopathology or resilience in individuals exposed to early life trauma. In particular, it appears that there are important variations in the genes encoding for the stress response (CRH receptor) that can influence the development of alcohol dependence following an early life trauma through a gene by environment interaction. One study of children at risk found an interaction between CRH variation and sexual trauma in adolescents that predicted an earlier age of onset of drinking and heavy alcohol consumption (Blomeyer et al., 2008). These findings suggest that the interaction of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposure can lead to a pathological stress system response which increases the risk for the development of alcohol dependence in victims of trauma.
