TY - JOUR
T1 - Getting to the Heart of Low Sensitivity to Alcohol
T2 - Context Moderates Low Cardiovascular Response to Alcohol in Persons With a Family History of Alcohol Use Disorder
AU - Bates, Marsha E.
AU - Mun, Eun Young
AU - Buckman, Jennifer F.
AU - Vaschillo, Evgeny
AU - Vaschillo, Bronya
AU - Lehrer, Paul
AU - Udo, Tomoko
AU - Lesnewich, Laura M.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported in part by grants R01 AA015248, K24 AA021778, K02 AA025123, and R01 AA019511 from the National Institutes of Health.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Research Society on Alcoholism
PY - 2020/3/1
Y1 - 2020/3/1
N2 - Background: Low sensitivity to alcohol in persons with a family history of alcoholism (FH+), compared to those without (FH−), contributes to risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, sensitivity of FH+ cardiovascular response to alcohol is not well understood. This gap is significant because cardiovascular processes contribute to emotional regulation and stress response problems theorized to be central to the development and persistence of AUD. This study compared changes in heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) between FH groups after consuming alcohol and control beverages and examined how these changes were moderated by emotional and alcohol-related contexts. Methods: Young adults (N = 165) with FH+ (n = 110) or FH− (n = 55) each completed 2 sessions, separated by 1 week. They received one of 3 different beverages (alcohol, placebo, and told-no-alcohol) in each session. Electrocardiogram data were recorded during pre–beverage consumption and post–beverage consumption baselines, and then during 4 picture cue tasks (neutral, positive, negative, and alcohol-related). Generalized estimating equations were used to examine differences in cardiovascular reactivity (changes in HR and HRV power at ~ 0.1 Hz) across FH groups, beverage conditions, and picture cue tasks. Results: A significant beverage condition × cue task × FH interaction effect on HRV was observed. The FH+ group, compared to the FH− group, showed (a) significantly less HRV suppression in specific cue contexts following alcohol, (b) a mixed pattern of more and less HRV suppression across cue contexts following placebo, and (c) a similar HRV reactivity pattern in the told-no-alcohol condition across cue tasks. For HR, there were no significant effects involving FH. Conclusions: Diminished cardiovascular sensitivity to oral alcohol in FH+ persons varied within a given drinking episode depending on emotional and alcohol-related features of the context, suggesting that environmental characteristics play a role in the expression of low sensitivity to alcohol among FH+ individuals.
AB - Background: Low sensitivity to alcohol in persons with a family history of alcoholism (FH+), compared to those without (FH−), contributes to risk for alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, sensitivity of FH+ cardiovascular response to alcohol is not well understood. This gap is significant because cardiovascular processes contribute to emotional regulation and stress response problems theorized to be central to the development and persistence of AUD. This study compared changes in heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) between FH groups after consuming alcohol and control beverages and examined how these changes were moderated by emotional and alcohol-related contexts. Methods: Young adults (N = 165) with FH+ (n = 110) or FH− (n = 55) each completed 2 sessions, separated by 1 week. They received one of 3 different beverages (alcohol, placebo, and told-no-alcohol) in each session. Electrocardiogram data were recorded during pre–beverage consumption and post–beverage consumption baselines, and then during 4 picture cue tasks (neutral, positive, negative, and alcohol-related). Generalized estimating equations were used to examine differences in cardiovascular reactivity (changes in HR and HRV power at ~ 0.1 Hz) across FH groups, beverage conditions, and picture cue tasks. Results: A significant beverage condition × cue task × FH interaction effect on HRV was observed. The FH+ group, compared to the FH− group, showed (a) significantly less HRV suppression in specific cue contexts following alcohol, (b) a mixed pattern of more and less HRV suppression across cue contexts following placebo, and (c) a similar HRV reactivity pattern in the told-no-alcohol condition across cue tasks. For HR, there were no significant effects involving FH. Conclusions: Diminished cardiovascular sensitivity to oral alcohol in FH+ persons varied within a given drinking episode depending on emotional and alcohol-related features of the context, suggesting that environmental characteristics play a role in the expression of low sensitivity to alcohol among FH+ individuals.
KW - Context
KW - Family History of Alcoholism
KW - Heart Rate Variability
KW - Loading
KW - Low Response to Alcohol
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079707691&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/acer.14293
DO - 10.1111/acer.14293
M3 - Article
C2 - 31984514
AN - SCOPUS:85079707691
SN - 0145-6008
VL - 44
SP - 589
EP - 599
JO - Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
JF - Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research
IS - 3
ER -