Findings on gender differences in the effects of GABRA2 have been mixed, with some studies finding adverse effects of high risk genotypes are more pronounced in women (Philibert et al. 2009; Villafuerte et al. 2012), and others in men (Enoch et al. 2006; Pescosolido et al. 2008). A number of other GxE effects involving GABRA2 have been identified, consistent with the disinhibition model of alcohol dependence described above. Studies have reported that in social environments characterized by high levels of social control, people were less apt to engage in maladaptive, deviant behavior irrespective of genotype, reducing the influence of GABRA2 (Dick et al. 2006a, 2009; Philibert et al. 2008). Conversely, when exposed to negative socialization or permissive social groups and contexts, patterns of drug and alcohol use reflected the full range of genetic variation.
