Initiation of alcohol use during adolescence is high in both males and females, with rates of use starting as low as 3.9% among adolescents aged 12–13 and increasing rapidly across adolescence with rates as high as 51.6% among individuals aged 18–20 (Substance Abuse and Mental Heath Services Administration, 2007). Underage drinking is slightly higher in males than females (Substance Abuse and Mental Heath Services Administration, 2007). Our work focuses on the hypothesis that early initiation of alcohol use may be a predictor of continued use into adulthood and those that begin use of alcohol at an early age may also be at risk for developing an alcohol abuse disorder in adulthood (Grant et al., 2001; Hasin and Glick, 1992). Early exposure to ethanol may predispose the brain to greater vulnerability to subsequent ethanol exposure both behaviorally and neurochemically
