Evaluating the impact of a new educational tool on understanding of polygenic risk scores for alcohol use disorder

Abstract

IntroductionAs gene identification efforts have advanced in psychiatry, so have aspirations to use genome-wide polygenic information for prevention and intervention. Although polygenic risk scores (PRS) for substance use and psychiatric outcomes are not yet available in clinical settings, individuals can access their PRS through online direct-to-consumer resources. One of these widely used websites reports that alcohol use disorder is the third most requested PRS out of >1,000 conditions. However, data indicate that there are misunderstandings about complex genetic concepts, with a lower understanding of PRS being associated with a more negative impact of receiving polygenic risk information. There is a need to develop and evaluate educational tools to increase understanding of PRS.MethodsWe conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of web-based educational information on understanding of PRS for alcohol use disorder. A total of 325 college students (70.4% female; 43.6% White; mean age = 18.9 years) from an urban, diverse university completed the study.ResultsOverall, participants were highly satisfied with the educational information. Results from a one-way ANOVA indicated that there was a significant increase in overall understanding of PRS for alcohol use disorder (p-value < 0.001), among individuals who received educational information about PRS and alcohol use disorder, as compared to receiving no accompanying information (adj. p-value < 0.001), or educational information about alcohol use disorder only (adj. p-value < 0.001).DiscussionThese findings suggest that the web-based educational tool could be provided alongside polygenic risk information in order to enhance understanding and interpretation of the information.Clinical trial registration[ClinicalTrials.gov], identifier [NCT05143073].

The impact of receiving polygenic risk scores for alcohol use disorder on psychological distress, risk perception, and intentions to reduce drinking

“…Finally, our findings indicate that the educational material about alcohol use disorder and polygenic risk scores provided through the online educational tool did not significantly reduce the amount of distress that the participants indicated they would expect after receiving each polygenic risk score. This is unfortunate because data have shown that this educational tool improves understanding of the polygenic risk scores for alcohol use disorder (Driver et al, 2022). In this study, psychological distress appeared to be slightly lower in the condition that received both educational information about polygenic risk scores and alcohol use disorder as compared to the control condition and the condition that received educational information about alcohol use disorder only.…”

“…There were no significant differences in demographic characteristics across the three conditions. Additional study details are provided in Driver et al (2022). All study procedures were approved by the University's Institutional Review Board.…”

Integrating Theory with Education about Genetic Risk for Alcohol Use Disorder: The Effects of a Brief Online Educational Tool on Elements of the Health Belief Model

“…It is important to note that the educational information about AUD and polygenic risk scores was designed with the intention of providing participants with personalized genetic risk information for AUD. We have previously demonstrated that the intervention increases understanding of polygenic risk scores [15], and the receipt of hypothetical polygenic risk scores for AUD indicating elevated risk is associated with intentions to seek out additional information, talk to a healthcare provider about risk, and reduce drinking behavior [44]. This suggests that providing personalized risk information may be more effective in altering beliefs regarding AUD than providing brief online educational information alone.…”

“…The data used in the present study were collected as part of a RCT that evaluated the impact of educational information on understanding of polygenic risk scores for AUD [15]. The RCT was conducted online with college students recruited from a diverse, urban university and consisted of three conditions: a control condition in which participants received no educational information (control condition), an intervention condition in which participants received general educational information about AUD (AUD Edu condition), and an intervention condition in which participants received educational information about AUD and polygenic risk scores (PRS Edu + AUD Edu condition).…”

Using DNA to predict Education: A Meta-Analytic Review

“…For example, across three randomized controlled trials, high school students, who received a week's worth of lessons on the genetic variation that occurs within and between racial groups, showed significantly less racial prejudice and were more critical of genetic essentialism than the control group, who had studied climate variation for a week (Donovan et al, 2019). Conversely, a lack of training in polygenic score interpretations has been shown to be associated with misattributing genetic risks for developing a substance abuse disorder (Driver et al, 2022).…”