A large volume of research has been conducted to identify the mechanisms underlying the association of age at drinking onset with subsequent drinking behaviors. Early drinking onset has been found to independently predict greater drinking in early- and mid-adulthood, even after adjusting for multiple familial and behavioral antecedents in childhood and adolescence (Buchmann et al., 2009; Grant, 1998; Hingson et al., 2000, 2001, 2003; Pitkänen et al., 2008). Early drinking onset is part of a cluster of factors associated with problematic alcohol use, including externalizing tendencies (e.g., aggressiveness, low prosociality), physiological signs of poor inhibition, early use of other substances (McGue et al., 2001a), adverse childhood experiences (Dube et al., 2006), early parental onset of substance use, parenting style marked by low involvement and physical punishment, poor relationship between parents (McGue et al., 2001b; Pitkänen et al., 2008), and the presence of alcoholic adult siblings (Kuperman et al., 2005). Prospective studies have identified a number of predictors of early drinking onset, including aggressiveness, oppositionality, hyperactivity/impulsivity, inattentiveness, conduct problems, low self-control in early adolescence, prior drug use, family history of alcohol
