In a sample selected for high familial risk for alcohol use disorder, parental divorce and children’s polygenic loading for alcohol problems were independently and jointly associated with earlier age at initiation and the likelihood of developing clinically significant alcohol problems, with some evidence for differences across ancestral populations. A similar pattern of finding was also observed for parental relationship discord. Our results are consistent with the additive model of diathesis-stress perspective and underscore the need to consider how genetic risk may shape offspring’s response to common family advertises to influence their alcohol use behaviors.
