Doremus et al., 2005, Vetter et al., 2007), in part seemingly due to their insensitivity to some of the adverse and incapacitating effects of ethanol (see Spear & Varlinskaya, 2005 for references and review). It is likely that the behavioral traits typical of adolescence partly contribute to this initiation of drug and alcohol use, with peer pressure (Segal & Stewart, 1996) and the desire for more relaxed social interactions (Smith et al., 1995) likely contributing to alcohol intake among human adolescents during this developmental period. Adolescent rodents as well show a unique relationship between ethanol and social behavior, with adolescents exhibiting a robust increase in social interactions following moderate doses of ethanol, ethanol-induced social facilitation that is not seen among adults (Varlinskaya & Spear, 2002, 2006, 2007).
