One of the behavioral aspects that guides some of the recent work we have conducted includes a preclinical approach to understanding environmental factors, specifically the influence of social interaction and its impact on passive social modeling behavior, which can influence early alcohol-seeking behavior in adolescent male and female rats. Social influences, including passive social influences, such as social modeling, contribute to future alcohol use in adolescent humans (Graham, Marks and Hansen, 1991). Previous studies have shown the ability of alcohol to facilitate social interactions as an important factor in adolescent drinking behaviors (Beck, Thombs and Summons, 1993; Beck and Treiman, 1996; Smith, Goldman, Greenbaum and Christiansen, 1995; Thombs, Beck, Mahoney, Bromley and Bezon, 1994).
