Genes, Social Environment and Substance Abuse: A Study on Young Males in China

• In Event: Environmental and Genetic Influences on Substance Use

Abstract

The emergent literature has shown that genetic variations not only have main effects on risk behaviors, but also moderate the effects of the sociocultural factors on the outcome of interest. Comparing to the extant G×E studies in the West, how genes interact with the environmental effects of substance abuse in Asian contexts, remains less clear. This study is based on a 2016 self-report survey of genes, environment, and addictive behaviors (smoking, drinking and drug use) amongst the age-gender group most at risk in one of the major cities in China (400 males aged 18-30). The specific research objectives include (1) uncovering the candidate genes and social factors (social control theory, social learning theory, general strain theory, and the normalization thesis) related to substance abuse among these youth, and (2) exploring the G×E effects on substance abuse of these youth. The analysis is mainly guided by three competing theoretical frameworks of G×E: the diathesis-stress model, the differential susceptibility model, and the vantage sensitivity model. The preliminary results show more support to the differential susceptibility model. These findings contribute to the development of interdisciplinary theories derived from the cross-national evidence and also have significant policy implications for the prevention of substance abuse.

Authors

• Hua Zhong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

• Xi Chen, The Chinese University of Hong Kong