Strengths include the study’s external validity as it captures subjective responses to alcohol and urge to drink in nearly real-time in heavy drinkers’ natural environment. The current study extends the literature on genetic factors underlying subjective responses to alcohol and drinking urges, constructs that have been typically studied under laboratory conditions and that are relevant to the etiology and treatment of alcohol abuse and dependence. Specifically, this study examines dimensions of subjective responses to alcohol in the natural environment (a) in the context of theory-driven genetic markers; (b) in relation to actual drinking during each episode; and (c) while considering important contextual time-varying covariates. Together, these methodological advantages afford a unique evaluation of subjective responses to alcohol and genetic markers that may underlie their expression. Similar to the distinction between efficacy and effectiveness trials, this study extends laboratory-based findings of the genetics of subjective responses to alcohol into real-world setting using EMA technology.
