Another important consideration for future work in this area is the potential bias posed by retrospective reporting, most notably, forward telescoping. We attempted to minimize the influence of this bias by adjusting for age at which participants were interviewed, but studying drinking behaviors prospectively would provide a higher degree of accuracy in the assessment of changes over the course of alcohol use. Finally, which shared environmental factors are most influential in the timing of first drink and what specific genes contribute to initiation and AD? The integration of findings from these lines of research would contribute significantly to the development of a comprehensive etiological model of the course of alcohol use and dependence. It would also provide a framework for devising interventions that target biological and psychosocial risk factors most relevant to a given stage of alcohol use.
