These gender differences in mechanisms of disinhibition in alcohol dependence merit attention in so far as they might lead to gender-specific GxE effects. We refer to this phenomenon as a GxExE effect, conceptualizing gender as an environmental variable—an approach that has garnered growing support in the genetics literature (Ober et al. 2008). ‘‘Sex’’ refers to biological and physical characteristics distinguishing men and women, and clearly has a genetic basis in sex chromosomes and epigenetic regulation. ‘‘Gender,’’ however, is a social construction encompassing cultural conventions, roles, and behaviors adopted by men and women that shape their experiences and activities. Sex and gender often overlap in meaningful ways, such that differences between men and women are attributable to a combination of social and biological forces that often cannot be extricated from one another. However, in the case of the current study, the literature reviewed above points to gender differences in mechanisms that we feel are attributable in larger part to social forces (e.g., gender norms). Thus, gender as environment captures the cumulative effects on men and women of living in a social world where such categories matter—a process that undoubtedly has some roots in biological sex differences.
