Biomedical subjects

Richard A Grucza

Publications and source records attributed to Richard A Grucza.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Novelty seeking as a moderator of familial risk for alcohol dependence.

BACKGROUND: Disinhibitory personality traits such as high novelty seeking (NS) are moderately heritable, and individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) frequently exhibit such traits. However, recent studies have cast doubt on the supposition that such traits are true familial risk factors for SUD and particularly for alcohol dependence. Another possibility is that familial risk interacts with personality-associated risk, in which case the association between personality and familial risk might depend on sample composition, accounting for the lack of consensus among studies to date. We examined this possibility by analyzing the association between NS and alcohol dependence in individuals at intermediate and high levels of familial risk for alcohol dependence. METHODS: Data from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism, a multisite family study, were examined. Subjects were 1,111 adult siblings of alcohol-dependent index cases. Parental diagnoses of alcohol dependence and personality scores of NS from the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire were used to predict alcohol dependence. RESULTS: A significant interaction between NS and familial risk for alcoholism was seen, such that NS was a significantly stronger predictor of alcohol dependence in subjects with one or more parents with alcohol dependence than in subjects without alcohol-dependent parents. CONCLUSIONS: Novelty seeking and familial risk interact so that the risk associated with high NS is magnified in families with parental alcohol dependence and NS is a moderator of familial risk. Accordingly, high NS is strongly associated with alcohol dependence in subjects with a parent diagnosed with alcohol dependence, but low NS may protect against the risk associated with familial alcoholism. This interaction may account for conflicting findings from studies that have examined this question previously.

Alcoholism↗

PubMed2006

Cigarette smoking and the risk for alcohol use disorders among adolescent drinkers.

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking and alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are closely linked, but it is not clear whether higher rates of AUD among smokers are solely attributable to heavier drinking or, alternatively, whether smokers are more vulnerable to alcohol abuse and dependence than nonsmokers who drink comparable quantities. We sought to address this issue using data from a nationally representative U.S. sample of adolescents and young adults. Specifically, we analyzed the relationship between cigarette smoking, drinking, and AUDs. METHODS: Data were from the aggregated 2002 through 2004 U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Participants were randomly selected, household-dwelling adolescents and young adults (ages 12-20) from the noninstitutionalized, civilian population of the United States (N=74,836). Measurements included current DSM-IV alcohol abuse or dependence, number of drinks in the past 30 days, and past-year cigarette smoking, defined as having smoked more than 100 cigarettes across the lifetime and having smoked during the past year. RESULTS: Past-year smokers (prevalence=16.0%) drank in higher quantities than never-smokers, but were also at elevated risk for AUD when compared with never-smokers who drank equivalent quantities. The effect was observed across age groups, but was more prominent among younger adolescents. After adjusting for drinking quantity and sociodemographic variables, smokers had 4.5-fold higher odds of AUD than never-smokers [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 3.1-6.6]. Youths who reported smoking but did not cross the 100-cigarette threshold were at intermediate risk [odds ratio (OR), 2.3; 95% CI, 1.7-3.3]. Differences in AUD between smokers and never-smokers were most pronounced at lower levels of drinking. CONCLUSIONS: The results are consistent with a higher vulnerability to AUDs among smokers, compared with nonsmokers who drink equivalent quantities.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Prevalence and predictors of pathological gambling: results from the St. Louis personality, health and lifestyle (SLPHL) study.

OBJECTIVES: We report the prevalence of and risk and protective factors for DSM-IV sub-threshold gambling (1-4 criteria) and pathological gambling disorder (PGD; 5-10 criteria) in a non-clinical household sample of St. Louis area gamblers. METHODS: Of the 7689 individuals contacted via Random Digit Dialing, 3292 were screened eligible. Of these, 1142 from households in 6 contiguous regions in Missouri and Illinois consented to participate and were mailed a St. Louis Area Personality, Health, and Lifestyle (SLPHL) Survey. RESULTS: Post-stratification weighted data (n=913) indicate lifetime prevalence rates of 12.4% sub-threshold and 2.5% PGD (conditional prevalence=21.5% and 4.3% respectively). Risk and protective factors for gambling severity varied in the sample. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted prevention messages are warranted specifically for gamblers of varying risk for PGD.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

The tandem Src homology 2 domain of the Syk kinase: a molecular device that adapts to interphosphotyrosine distances.

Conformational flexibility is important for protein function. However, information on the range of conformations accessible to macromolecules in the unbound state is often difficult to obtain. By using the model system of the tandem Src homology 2 domain (i.e., two adjacent Src homology 2 domains) of the Syk kinase, we report a method combining calorimetric and crystallographic measurements that reveals the preexistence of a conformational equilibrium in the unbound state, and that shows that this equilibrium is crucial for function.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2003

Personality and depressive symptoms: a multi-dimensional analysis.

BACKGROUND: The relationship of temperamental aspects of personality to symptoms of depression in a community-based sample of 804 individuals was examined using a multi-dimensional approach to account for heterogeneity in symptom patterns. METHOD: The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) was used to assess personality and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale (CES-D) was used to measure depressive symptoms. Canonical correlation analysis was used to relate CES-D item combinations to temperament traits in multiple dimensions. The relationships between temperament and various conditions correlated with depression were examined using logistic regression. RESULTS: Temperamental aspects of personality are related not only to total CES-D score, but also to the patterns of CES-D items endorsed by subjects. High Harm Avoidance is related to total CES-D score; high Reward Dependence combined with high Persistence is associated with restless sleep and subjective symptoms; high Reward Dependence combined with low Persistence is negatively associated with appetite loss and low energy; high Novelty Seeking is related to maintenance of positive affect and inability to concentrate. High Novelty Seeking is also associated with past suicide attempts, after adjusting for total CES-D score. LIMITATIONS: Cross-sectional data prevent analysis of causation; the severest cases of clinical depression may not be represented in a general population sample. Depressive symptoms are self-reported. CONCLUSION: Substantial differences in level of symptoms and in symptom patterns exist among individuals in a continuum of depressed states and those differences are partially explained by temperament traits.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Personality as a mediator of demographic risk factors for suicide attempts in a community sample.

The aim of this study was to determine whether personality might partially explain associations between sociodemographic factors and self-reported suicide attempts. This analysis was motivated by reports that certain personality traits are logical targets for intervention, whereas sociodemographic characteristics are not generally modifiable. Data were from a postal survey sent to community residents who were previously selected at random (N = 912). Age, gender, health-insurance status, education, self-reported health, and marital history were identified as relevant sociodemographic predictors of having made one or more lifetime suicide attempts. Risk associated with each of these variables was mediated by the personality traits of self-directedness (SD) and harm avoidance (HA). In a multiple logistic-regression analysis constrained to sociodemographic predictors, only young age, female sex, poor self-reported health, and Medicaid status remained as predictors of suicide attempts. When personality factors were added to the model, all of the sociodemographic predictors except Medicaid status were rendered nonsignificant or marginally significant. Risk associated with gender was primarily related to HA, risk associated with poor self-reported health was mediated by both HA and SD, and the risk associated with young age was primarily mediated by SD; the last was the largest mediation effect observed. In contrast, risk associated with receipt of Medicaid, presumed to indicate low socioeconomic status, was not mediated by personality. We conclude that risk associated with certain nonmodifiable demographic factors is often mediated by potentially modifiable intrapersonal factors, such as SD.

Adolescent↗