In the age ranges and samples in which we found that ERO was significant for the onset of alcohol use or alcohol dependence, it was the lower values which characterize the risk factor, which is consistent with the results in adolescents and young adults in the studies by Rangaswamy et al. (2007), Kamarajan et al. (2006), and Gilmore et al. (2010). In those investigations high risk groups had lower ERO values than the low risk groups.
