and Kirstein, 2008). Consistent with previous work in rodents (Hunt et al., 2001), we found adolescent males and females that socially interacted with an alcohol-intoxicated familiar peer voluntarily consumed significantly more sweetened ethanol relative to those that socially interacted with an alcohol-free peer (Maldonado et al., 2008a). In contrast, adolescent males that socially interacted with an unfamiliar alcohol-intoxicated peer consumed significantly less sweetened ethanol relative to adolescent males that socially interacted with an unfamiliar alcohol-free peer (Maldonado et al., 2008a). Adolescent females that socially interacted with an unfamiliar alcohol-intoxicated peer showed similar increases in voluntary sweetened ethanol intake relative to those that socially interacted with a familiar alcohol-intoxicated peer (Maldonado et al., 2008a). It is interesting to note the striking sex differences observed between males and females when the paradigm was altered by familiarity of the peer.
