The present study has extended our previous research in alcoholics, in order to confirm whether reward related ERP deficits observed in alcoholics are also found in children of alcoholics, and has successfully revealed differences in P3 amplitude and CSD across risk groups. However, there are some limitations in the current study, which could not be completely eliminated. For example, (i) the sample sizes for the LR groups are relatively smaller than the HR groups, and hence the findings have to be interpreted with caution; (ii) the trials involving both bet amounts (10¢ and 50¢) have been combined within loss and gain conditions respectively, in order to maximize trial numbers and sample size, while the analysis of each condition may have offered more detailed findings; (iii) the N2 component, which was difficult to measure and has not been analyzed in the current study, may have yielded additional information about reward processing deficits in HR offspring; (iv) although the mean trial numbers across the groups in each condition [LR = 42.24 and HR = 40.53 for the gain condition; LR = 39.12
