Despite much speculation and anecdotal claims about substance use in the arts and creative domains (e.g., professional musical engagement), little is known about prevalences and associations between substance use and creativity, including creativity-enhancing effects, direction of associations and the role of genetic confounding. Further, substance use is often associated with mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, and externalizing behaviors such as impulsivity, and may act as both as a cause and a consequence. Both mental health issues and substance use share genetic factors, with large-scale genetic studies highlighting common genetic variants that influence both. Finally, although a relationship between creative engagement and mental health problems has also been reported (including the importance of underlying shared genetic liability), the role of substance use in this relationship remains unclear.

The project aims to uncover whether people in creative domains (such as music, writing, dance, etc.) use more substances, and whether this association is causal, due to shared genetic factors, or personality traits such as risk-taking tendencies. We will also investigate whether substance use enhances creativity or whether associations are better explained by other variables, such as mental health problems or genetic predispositions. To do this, the project will leverage large Swedish population data and the UK Biobank, using twin data and genetic information to disentangle genetic and environmental influences. The results will provide important insights into the (genetic) links between substance use, creativity and mental health.