ArticlePloS one2012
DRD4 polymorphism moderates the effect of alcohol consumption on social bonding.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Self-management with alcohol over lifespan: psychological mechanisms, neurobiological underpinnings, and risk assessment.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Systematic review and meta-analysis on the association between theory of mind and alcohol problems in non-clinical samples.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2022Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of associations between empathy and alcohol use and problems in clinical and non-clinical samples.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Pooled it
- The impact of empathy on drinking motives, craving, and drink orders: An experimental study.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2025Trial
- Alcohol's acute effects on emotion recognition and empathy in heavy-drinking young adults.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- The impact of alcohol consumption on implicit racial bias.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2024Trial
- Mixing Misery and Gin: The Effect of Alcohol Administration on Ostracism Response.Personality & social psychology bulletin · 2022Trial
- Using Placebo Beverages in Group Alcohol Studies.Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research · 2018Trial
- Social imitation of alcohol consumption and ingratiation motives in young adults.Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors · 2016Trial
- Serotonin and Dopamine Gene Variation and Theory of Mind Decoding Accuracy in Major Depression: A Preliminary Investigation.PloS one · 2016Trial
- Extraversion and the Rewarding Effects of Alcohol in a Social Context.Journal of abnormal psychology · 2015Trial
- The conditioning of intervention effects on early adolescent alcohol use by maternal involvement and dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) and serotonin transporter linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) genetic variants.Development and psychopathology · 2015Trial
- Genotype×age interaction in human transcriptional ageing.Mechanisms of ageing and developmentTrial
- Behavioral Impaired Control over Alcohol: Comparing Self-Medication and Behavioral Economic Models with the Interacting Effects of Acute Stress, Chronic Stress with Physical Neglect History, and Sex Assigned at Birth.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Effects of Alcohol in Groups of Heavy Drinking Young Adults: A Multi-Modal Investigation of Alcohol Responses in a Laboratory Social Setting.Clinical psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2025Article
- Thin Slices of Initial Group Rapport Predict Social Bonding.Small group research · 2023Article
- Indirect effects of theory of mind on alcohol use and problems in underage drinkers: The role of peer pressure to drink.Addictive behaviors reports · 2022Article
- Drinking Together and Drinking Alone: A Social-Contextual Framework for Examining Risk for Alcohol Use Disorder.Current directions in psychological science · 2021Article
- The influence of negative mood on solitary drinking preference: An experiment with young adult solitary drinkers.PloS one · 2021Article
- Neuropharmacological and Neurogenetic Correlates of Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) As a Function of Ethnicity: Relevance to Precision Addiction Medicine.Current neuropharmacology · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Development of interpersonal relationships is a fundamental human motivation, and behaviors facilitating social bonding are prized. Some individuals experience enhanced reward from alcohol in social contexts and may be at heightened risk for developing and maintaining problematic drinking. We employed a 3 (group beverage condition) ×2 (genotype) design (N = 422) to test the moderating influence of the dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4 VNTR) polymorphism on the effects of alcohol on social bonding. A significant gene x environment interaction showed that carriers of at least one copy of the 7-repeat allele reported higher social bonding in the alcohol, relative to placebo or control conditions, whereas alcohol did not affect ratings of 7-absent allele carriers. Carriers of the 7-repeat allele were especially sensitive to alcohol's effects on social bonding. These data converge with other recent gene-environment interaction findings implicating the DRD4 polymorphism in the development of alcohol use disorders, and results suggest a specific pathway by which social factors may increase risk for problematic drinking among 7-repeat carriers. More generally, our findings highlight the potential utility of employing transdisciplinary methods that integrate genetic methodologies, social psychology, and addiction theory to improve theories of alcohol use and abuse.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.