Our results suggest that alcohol effects on ERPs may be most sensitively found in novel P3 and suggest, as well, that measures of high-density drinking may more sensitively reveal such effects than either drinking-related problems (e.g., RAPI or Mm-MAST) or DSM-III-R diagnoses of alcohol disorder. Both of these suggestive results require replication, as they may reflect the specific nature of our longitudinal study design, our EDAC sample selection that yielded a high prevalence of alcohol dependency, and our assessment of high-density drinking patterns and ERPs at mean age 25. Persistence of alcohol effects to later ages is uncertain.
