Although half of adults have been exposed to some kind of childhood stressor, according to the NCS-R, only 26% of substance use disorders and approximately 30% of mood and anxiety disorders with onset at ages 13 to 29 years are predicted by SLEs plus childhood maltreatment [10]. Not surprisingly, a high percentage (30%–80%) of treatment-seeking alcoholics and drug addicts have experienced childhood maltreatment, and the effect might be greater in women [12]. Therefore, G×E effects may be more likely to be detected in certain subtypes of alcoholics, such as the NESARC types 4 and 5: treatment-seeking, severe alcoholics with strong family histories and comorbid disorders [6].
