Longitudinal studies have helped clarify some of the inconsistencies. Tapert et al. (2002), for example, showed that visuospatial problems are not generic to all AUDs, but are primarily associated with the intensity of alcohol withdrawal. Testing the same adolescents at 4-and 8-year follow-up periods has confirmed that protracted and ongoing alcohol abuse is associated with ongoing attention and memory difficulties, specifically verbal and nonverbal retention in the context of intact learning and recognition abilities (Brown and Tapert, 2004; Brown et al., 2000; Tapert and Brown, 1999; Tapert et al., 2002). Although not all neuropsychological domains are affected by alcohol consumption, and most authors acknowledge that effects are sometimes subtle, prolonged and excessive consumption of alcohol by adolescents has profoundly negative educational, occupational, physiological and psychosocial sequelae. These consequences, which extend into adulthood, have been well documented in the international as well as in the South African literature (Parry et al., 2004; Shuckit, 2009; Zeigler et al., 2005).
