Research focused on identifying specific genetic variants associated with problematic alcohol use has proliferated over the last two decades. One likely candidate emerging from this line of work is the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) of SLC6A4, the gene that codes for the serotonin transporter protein (5-HTT; Lichtermann et al., 2000; Schuckit et al., 1999). 5-HTT is an integral membrane protein that removes and recycles serotonin from synaptic spaces, and a repeat length polymorphism in the promoter region of this gene can affect the rate of serotonin uptake (Lesch et al., 1996). Two commonly studied human variants of this region are the short (S) and long (L) alleles; individuals can be homozygous short (SS), homozygous long (LL), or heterozygous (LS). Research has shown that homozygous long individuals have greater 5-HTT availability and function (Heinz et al., 2000; Lesch et al., 1996; Stoltenberg, 2003). It is important to note that Hu et al. (2006) have suggested that a triallelic coding of 5-HTTLPR, which involves a nearby single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs25531), may be more accurate. In Caucasians, approximately 10% of L
