to act rashly when experiencing extremely negative mood. Two were based on deficits in conscientiousness: lack of planning is the tendency to act without forethought and lack of perseverance reflects a failure to tolerate boredom or to remain focused despite distraction. The fifth was sensation seeking, or the tendency to seek out novel or thrilling stimulation (Cyders & Smith, 2007; Smith et al., 2007; Whiteside & Lynam, 2001). Our results support the distinction between these factors and broadly agree with the structure found in that study. Scales that are part of NEO Extraversion and Zuckerman’s Sensation-Seeking scale, the two measures associated with GABRA2 in this study, both loaded largely onto their empirically derived sensation-seeking factor. In contrast, the other, non-significant measures in the current investigation (neuroticism, BIS, conscientiousness) loaded primarily onto the urgency and lack of planning factors. There are likely several pathways of risk for the eventual manifestation of alcohol problems (Schuckit et al., 2008; Zucker, 1986); these results suggest that the pathway by which GABRA2 initially confers risk for eventual alcohol problems begins with a predisposition to sensation-seeking early in adolescence.
