which we are aware have used longitudinal data to explicitly test the unfolding of risk associated with GABRA2 across development. In the current analyses, we used longitudinal data from individuals with up to three assessments between the ages of 14 and 25 in order to examine the effects of GABRA2 on trajectories of drunkenness from adolescence to young adulthood. We used drunkenness as an index of risky drinking behavior, as we hypothesized that genetic effects may be evident for drinking patterns/subclinical indices of drinking problems earlier in the developmental history than for diagnostic level alcohol dependence problems. Accordingly, understanding how genetic influences impact changes in drunkenness across adolescence and into young adulthood may help us understand the unfolding of risk across this critical transitional period.
