Social play in adolescent animals has been suggested to be rewarding using the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm (Calcagnetti & Schechter, 1992). Consistent with Calcagnetti and Schechter (1992), there were no significant sex differences in time spent in the initially least preferred side after conditioning in control animals in the social interaction conditioning experiment discussed above (Figures 1 and 2). Extending upon the work of Calcagnetti and Schechter (1992), using the conditioned place preference paradigm in adolescent animals, in conjunction with the effects of ethanol on facilitating social interaction, adolescent male rats appear to be the most sensitive to the effects of cues paired with social interaction with an alcohol-intoxicated peer. Overall, the present results suggest adolescent males are particularly sensitive to environmental conditions when socially interacting with an alcohol-intoxicated peer, which may alter subsequent responding for alcohol in social settings.
