Recent years have seen an increasing appreciation for a developmental systems approach to the study of alcoholism etiology (Zucker, 2006). This conceptual shift has resulted in more research on the mechanisms through which familial vulnerability operates and includes prospective studies of children in families with an alcoholic parent. A major focus of this research is to uncover the phenotypic manifestations of risk in childhood which may permit the development of more refined explanatory models and earlier prevention efforts. Prospective longitudinal studies of families with an alcoholic parent have shown that the children in these families are at risk for early, heavy, or problem drinking at young ages, and that externalizing behavior problems (conduct problems, attentional difficulties, defiant behavior) commonly characterize these highest-risk youth (Chassin et al., 2002; Martel et al., 2009).
