Alcohol use disorders are prevalent (Hasin et al. 2007; Wittchen and Jacobi 2005) and excessive alcohol use is associated with substantial cost to the public (Rehm et al. 2009). Identification of risk factors for alcohol problems could help to target prevention and intervention efforts. Two risk factors and potential endophenotypes (i.e., genetically-related intermediate phenotypes) for alcohol dependence are subjective response to alcohol (Crabbe et al. 2010) and impulsivity (Dick et al. 2010). Several models have been proposed to understand relationships between each of these constructs and risk for alcohol dependence.
