Tobacco and cannabis use in college students are predicted by sex‐dimorphic interactions between MAOA genotype and child abuse

Abstract

Background Postsecondary students in Western countries exhibit a high prevalence of cannabis and tobacco use disorders. The etiology of these problems is contributed by several psychosocial factors, including childhood adversity and trauma; however, the mechanisms whereby these environmental determinants predispose to the use of these substances remain elusive, due to our poor knowledge of genetic and biological moderators. Converging evidence points to the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene as a moderator of the effects of lifetime stress on the initiation of substance use.

Aims Building on these premises, in this study, we analyzed whether MAOA upstream variable number tandem repeat (uVNTR) alleles interact with child maltreatment history to predict for lifetime cannabis and tobacco consumption.

Materials and methods Five hundred college students (age: 18–25 years) from a large Midwestern University were surveyed for their child maltreatment history (encompassing emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, as well as emotional and physical neglect) and lifetime consumption of cannabis and tobacco. Saliva samples were obtained to determine the MAOA uVNTR genotype of each participant.

Results In female students, lifetime tobacco and cannabis use was predicted by the interaction of physical and emotional abuse with high‐activity MAOA allelic variants; conversely, in males, the interaction of low‐activity MAOA alleles and physical abuse was associated with lifetime use of tobacco, but not cannabis.

Discussion These findings collectively suggest that the vulnerability to smoke tobacco and cannabis is predicted by sex‐dimorphic interactions of MAOA gene with childhood abuse.

Conclusion These biosocial underpinnings of tobacco and cannabis use may prove important in the development of novel personalized preventive strategies for substance use disorders in adolescents.