Second, it is important to recognize the heterogeneity that exists within the higher-level construct of behavioral undercontrol (Windle, 1990). Lower-level constructs reflecting heritable traits such as “reactive control” (Martel et al., 2009) or “behavioral disinhibition” (inhibitory control problems, difficulty sustaining attention, etc.) may be distinguished from behavioral violations of social norms (i.e., conduct problems such as defiance of authority, rule breaking, etc.). The latter have also been shown to be heritable (e.g., Slutske et al., 1997) but are usually understood to result more strongly from socialization failure (Dishion and Patterson, 2006). These constructs have been distinguished from one another in many factor analytic studies and found to be differentially predictive of outcomes that increase alcoholism risk (e.g., social functioning, academic problems, aggression; Flanagan et al., 2003). Moreover, behavioral disinhibition can occur in the absence of conduct problems, and studies have demonstrated that an underlying genetic predisposition toward behavioral disinhibition in childhood can manifest as alcohol dependence in adulthood (Dick et al., 2006). However, questions continue to be raised in the literature about the extent to which family density of alcohol
