In contrast to the US studies, no differences were found in attentional, visual memory or visuospatial abilities. This may indicate that the neuropsychological consequences of AD in Capetonian adolescents are less pervasive (i.e., they affect fewer cognitive domains) than in adolescents in the United States, possibly due to the absence of comorbid other SUDs and psychiatric symptoms. This underscores the value of this study in terms of the uniqueness of the sample, which differs from those traditionally studied in the adolescent AD field in that our participants were treatment-naïve and free of comorbid psychiatric disorders and other SUDs. Strengths of the study include enhanced chances that differences are attributable to alcohol consumption and not to the influence of other substances or comorbid psychiatric illnesses. Limitations of the study include its cross-sectional design and relatively small sample size, which limit our understanding of whether the effects may be transient or more enduring. Although when demographic factors were controlled, AD predicted neuropsychological performance on 3 domains, the interaction effects of AD and demographic variables (specifically years of completed education and test language)
