Whether alcohol intoxication is perceived as pleasant and/or aversive is likely to influence an individual’s alcohol consumption. How subjective responses contribute to alcohol use disorders remains an area of active research (King et al., 2011; Quinn and Fromme, 2011a; Ray and Hutchison, 2009; Schuckit et al., 2012; Schuckit and Smith, 2013). Finding that sons of alcoholics consistently reported weaker subjective effects of alcohol on a number of measures (Schuckit, 1980; Schuckit, 1984), Schuckit proposed that individuals with a low level of response to alcohol were at higher risk for alcohol use disorders. Additional studies confirmed this association, and in particular low level of response to negative, sedating effects of alcohol appeared to predict heavier drinking and drinking problems (Schuckit et al., 2009; Schuckit et al., 2011; Schuckit and Smith, 2013; Trim et al., 2009).
