Our findings suggest that etiologically distinct mechanisms underlie the association between religious service attendance and alcohol involvement in Black and White women. In Blacks, the association with ever drinking is due to individual-specific factors that might be modifiable. On the other hand, the association between A-RA and AUD, in both Blacks and Whites was due to common genetic influences, which are less amenable to prevention and intervention efforts. Given noted ethnic disparities in the consequences of AUD in Blacks, isolating modifiable risk and protective factors that robustly relate to drinking milestones and afford protection against the development of problem drinking is needed, particularly in genetically informative datasets.
