use of a cross-sectional design. Without experimental and/or prospective data, the possibility that drinking has a causal effect on implicit measures (rather than vice versa) cannot be ruled out. Finally, although findings concerning COMT could potentially generalize to other populations, findings concerning ALDH2 cannot be extended to most populations because ALDH2*2 is exclusive to northeast Asian groups. Overall, it should be emphasized that the present findings are by definition preliminary given the small number of published studies evaluating genetic influences on alcohol-related cognitions and the availability of only one prior study examining genetic influences on implicit measures (Wiers et al., 2009). Thus, the current analyses are in some ways exploratory and replication of these findings will be important before drawing conclusions from the current results.
