Development of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), a highly heritable psychiatric disorder, may be decomposed into a series of transitions, beginning with initiation of drinking, progressing to acquisition of a first problem, and culminating in the clustering of specific problems that comprise the current AUD definition. Identifying factors that promote -- or inhibit -- each transition may provide targets for prevention and early intervention. However, understanding of the influences underlying stages of AUD development is limited. Initiation of drinking, and particularly of early drinking (e.g. Kuperman et al 2005; Trim 2010; Waldron 2014a,b), has received considerable attention, while other stages in AUD progression have been somewhat overlooked. Data from samples enriched for AUD vulnerability and thus for AUD transitions – that is, high risk family samples - offer an ideal opportunity to examine influences on the multiple stages of AUD development.
