Most evaluations of the LR model have been cross-sectional, as those data are useful in helping to learn more about how elements of the model relate, and do not require continuity of measures over time and costly followups. Two prospective analyses have been published involving a U.S. sample of men originally studied at about age 20 and followed at about age 40, generating conclusions similar to those from cross-sectional evaluations (Schuckit et al., 2004, in press). In those men the low LR at age 20 related directly to heavy drinking and alcohol problems at age 40, with additional partial mediation of that relationship by age 35 heavier peer drinking and the use of alcohol to cope with stress, although not through more positive alcohol expectancies in these more middle aged subjects.
