The negative association of PGSAUD with 12-month and non-abstinent remission in COGA EA is consistent with the previous finding that genetic influences on AUD inhibit the likelihood of remission in young adult female twins (McCutcheon et al., 2012). It seems that the significant association with 12-month remission was driven primarily by non-abstinent remission. Importantly, PGSAUD was associated with reduced probability of non-abstinent remission in EA after adjusting for AUD duration and AUD criterion count, which suggests that PGSAUD and behavioral measures index different aspects of severity. PGSAUD are based on genetic signatures that remain constant over time, but measures of AUD severity require disease progression before they manifest. Therefore, PGSAUD might eventually be useful in combination with early indicators of alcohol misuse, such as binge drinking, to help identify individuals at greater risk for developing alcohol problems for referral to preventive interventions or treatment early in the progression of AUD (Nurnberger et al., 2022, Barr et al., 2020, Miller et al., 2023).
