COGA researcher, Dr. Danielle Dick, contributed a blog post to Psychology Today titled “Worried About Alcohol Use During the Pandemic?”
The full text can be found at https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/genes-environments-and-human-behavior/202005/worried-about-alcohol-use-during-the-pandemic.
In the article, Dr. Dick addresses the increase in alcohol sales that has been seen across the country since the start of COVID-19 shelter in place orders. As people cope with a drastic shift, Dr. Dick emphasizes the importance of also assessing individual genetic risk. “Environments that are risk-enhancing—say, for example, a global pandemic—can drastically increase the likelihood that people who are genetically at risk will develop problems.”
Check out the article for information on how to know if you are at increased risk! And remember, we need to support one another to ensure that the development of new alcohol use disorders is not yet another casualty of this pandemic.
Danielle M. Dick, Ph.D. is the distinguished Commonwealth Professor of Psychology and Human & Molecular Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she directs a research institute on behavioral and emotional health in young people. Dick’s research focuses on understanding how genetic influences contribute to substance use and mental health outcomes, understanding how the environment alters risk, and developing personalized prevention and intervention strategies.
