Adolescents with greater severity of disaster exposure and high genetic risk comprise a high-risk group, on which efforts to prevent alcohol use should be focused, according to a recent study. Additionally, emotional support is essential in buffering the effects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms on alcohol use outcomes among adolescents. In this study consisting of 332 subjects, researchers examined severity of tornado-related exposure, PTSD symptoms, emotional support, and a genetic risk sum score (GRSS) as predictors of alcohol use trajectories. They found:

• Severity of exposure interacted with the GRSS to predict both intercept (12-month follow up quantity of alcohol use) and growth rate.
• Emotional support also interacted with adolescent PTSD symptoms to predict intercept and growth rate.
• Toward the aim of reducing adolescent alcohol misuse following disaster exposure, there is utility in inserting immediate supports (eg, basic resources) into communities/families that have experienced significant disaster-related severity, particularly among adolescents at high levels of genetic risk for alcohol use/misuse.