Consistent with previous work (Sartor et al., 2011; Sheerin et al., 2020), this study found positive genetic correlations between PTSD and alcohol-related problems (Max. Alc., AUDIT-P, AUD, AD) among individuals of EA. Our findings are also consistent with a recent paper finding a moderate positive genetic correlation between PTSD and problematic alcohol use (rG = 0.49), and a more modest genetic correlation between PTSD and the specific portion of problematic alcohol use unique from a larger externalizing factor (rG = 0.26) (Barr et al., 2021). However, when investigating genetic correlations between PTSD and alcohol consumption-related phenotypes, findings generally suggested negative, non-significant or not passing multiple testing adjustment (e.g. in the case of DPW correlations using GSCAN, UKB data, and both combined) associations with PTSD. These discrepancies may have arisen because of differing sample characteristics or differing numbers of studies contributing to these statistics. However, in general, the genetic associations between PTSD and alcohol-consumption phenotypes were different from those of PTSD-alcohol-related problems.
