The well-documented familial incidence of alcoholism indicates that heredity contributes significantly to a predisposition toward, and the development of, AUDs.7–9 In fact, family history positive (FHP) individuals are at a three- to sevenfold increased risk to develop alcoholism, relative to those who are family history negative (FHN).10 This genetic proposal has been confirmed by multiple gene studies (e.g., the Collaborative Study On the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), the Study of Addiction: Genes and Environment (SAGE), and the European research project on risk-taking behavior in teenagers (IMAGEN)) examining the association between diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence/addiction and the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in alcohol-dependent individuals.11–17
