Why is this important? When the Schuckit group followed these individuals up to 10 and 20 years later, they found that FHP individuals were more likely to develop alcohol related problems associated with alcohol use disorders (AUD) or alcohol dependence (AD) in later life (Schuckit, Smith 1996). However, they also found that individuals characterized as having “low response (LR) to alcohol (most of whom were also FHP, although not all) also had higher risk for developing alcohol related problems. Subsequent hierarchical regression/path analysis/structural equation modeling studies have shown that both the low LR phenotype and FHP status are predictive of alcohol problems in later life, together and independently, and that other variables modulate their predictive value as well [e.g. (Schuckit, Smith 2000;Schuckit et al. 2004;Schuckit, Smith 2006a;Schuckit, Smith 2006b;Schuckit et al. 2008;Trim et al., 2009)].
