Sensitivity to alcohol’s effects, particularly during initiation of voluntary alcohol consumption, has been associated with later alcohol use and misuse (Schuckit, 1994; Schuckit et al., 2008a; Schuckit et al., 2008b). Under a model in which an individual consumes alcohol in part to experience its pleasant physiological effects (e.g., a “buzz”), it follows that those who are less sensitive to these effects will consume more than their peers (Trela et al., 2016). Higher consumption, in turn, is positively associated with alcohol problems (Barnett et al., 2014; Dick et al., 2011; Heath et al., 1999; Schuckit et al., 2007) in some but not all (Heath et al., 1999) studies, raising the possibility that those whose subjective response to alcohol is low have higher liability to later misuse.
