Alcohol challenge studies in men have generally shown that FHP men have decreased ratings of intoxication and reduced body sway compared to FHN men (O’Malley and Maisto, 1985; Pollock et al., 1986; Schuckit, 1984; Schukit et al., 2000). In contrast, a reduced sensitivity to intoxication has been less evident among the studies conducted to date in FHP women. For instance, an early study by Schukit et al. (2000), failed to show significant differences between FHP and FHN women on ratings of intoxication, most likely due to the small number of FHN women (n =11). Despite a larger sample size in a subsequent study (Eng et al., 2005), ratings of intoxication using the SHAS7 (Subjective High Assessment Scale) were only lower in FHP women compared to FHN women at a single time point. Although an intoxication scale was not used in the present study, based on other subjective measures, such as ratings of Drug Strength, there was no evidence that FHP women had a reduced subjective response to alcohol than FHN women and these results are consistent with a previous study
