Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a pernicious and debilitating mental health condition. The annual cost of AUD among Canadians is estimated at 14.6 billion and, globally, alcohol is among the leading contributors to disability and premature death. High rates of co-occurrence between AUD and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been firmly established. Furthermore, co-occurring AUD/PTSD renders individuals more vulnerable to a host of poorer outcomes. AUD has been theorized to develop following traumatic event exposure through attempts to alleviate emotional distress and cope with symptoms of PTSD. Genetic factors and deficits inhibiting responses in the presence of alcohol cues have also been implicated as contributing to AUD/PTSD. However, our understanding of AUD in relation to PTSD is limited due to a reliance on self-report measures of alcohol use. This research will extend the literature by using laboratory-based experiments involving self-administration of alcohol to increase our understanding of associations between trauma exposure, PTSD symptoms, and alcohol-related problems and use. Specifically, an established alcohol self-administration task will be coupled with a PTSD-specific stress reactivity protocol to uncover mechanisms associated with AUD/PTSD. This is the first study to evaluate alcohol consumption using a self-administration protocol among individuals with PTSD. This is also the first studies to investigate a polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene among humans with AUD/PTSD. The findings of this research are necessary to elucidate our understanding of the development and maintenance of AUD in relation to PTSD, and to identify Canadians at greatest risk for AUD/PTSD. Moreover, these results may guide the development of prevention strategies and inform the most efficacious and parsimonious intervention efforts for individuals with AUD/PTSD, ultimately improving the health of Canadians.