A multi-dimensional construct of neurobehavioral disinhibition consisting of indicators of difficult temperament, executive dysfunction, and externalizing behaviors has been reported to discriminate between high risk and low risk offspring of AUD individuals during childhood and adolescence (Tarter et al. 2003). However, it should be noted that the parents of the studied offspring had a high degree of comorbid antisocial behaviors due to the selection process used to include the parent-offspring pairs. Also, difficult temperament judged by parents may be unreliable due to parental expectations that bias parent report of offspring (Mangelsdorf et al. 2000). Also, it seems plausible that parents with greater likelihood of psychopathology will be less tolerant of their children's perceived behavioral infractions. Not surprisingly, parental SUD predicts neurobehavioral disinhibition in their offspring, and neurobehavioral disinhibition during adolescence in the offspring of alcoholics is predictive of SUD in young adulthood (Tarter et al. 2004). King et al. (2009) constructed an index of behavioral disinhibition comprised of measures of delinquency and peer deviance, antisocial attitudes, impulsive traits, and substance use in the adolescent offspring of adoptive and non-adoptive parents.
