Dopamine D4 receptor gene exon III polymorphism associated with binge drinking attitudinal phenotype

Although binge drinking is a serious public health problem, relatively few studies have investigated the relationship between specific dopaminergic genes such as the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) and binge drinking attitudinal phenotypes. This study used the DNA subsample (N = 233, mean age 19.8, standard deviation, 0.89) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to investigate the association between a 48 base-pair variable number of tandem repeats in the DRD4 gene and a measure of binge drinking. Multivariate regression models indicated that the 7-repeat (7R) allele of the exon III polymorphism is significantly positively associated (β = 0.16, P < .05) with binge drinking while controlling for low self-control and demographic variables. Findings were sturdy across race and gender. The present study provides unique evidence to the genetic underpinnings of binge drinking. Results suggest that the 7R allele may be an important contributor to the liability to binge drinking.