quadruple “whammies,” thereby promoting high levels of alcohol use--such as might be seen when individuals with a family history of alcoholism and living in stressful circumstances begin to drink early and persistently in adolescence (see Spear, 2010, for further discussion). Conversely, those adolescents who, because of genetic background (perhaps in interaction with environmental circumstances), retain relatively greater sensitivity to alcohol’s intoxicating effects would seemingly be relatively protected from these potential “whammies” and less likely to develop persistent, “binge”-like use patterns. It remains to be seen whether there are environmental manipulations that could potentially serve as protective factors by bolstering adolescents’ sensitivity to ethanol intoxication, thereby decreasing their propensity to drink heavily.
