To the extent that these findings of adolescence-related alcohol sensitivities derived largely from studies with laboratory animals hold for human adolescents, what are the implications for problematic adolescent alcohol use? Why would it matter if adolescents are relatively insensitive to alcohol intoxication? The data are clear on this point. Although there are multiple genetic influences on alcohol use and dependence (see Dick, 2011), a decreased sensitivity to the intoxicating effects of alcohol has long been deemed a major risk factor for problematic alcohol involvement, with “a lower sensitivity to moderate doses of alcohol” being associated with “a significant increase in the risk of future alcoholism, perhaps through increasing the chances that a person will drink more heavily” (Schuckit, 1994, p.184). Sons of alcoholic fathers characteristically exhibit attenuated responses to the intoxicating and aversive effects of alcohol (along with possibly an increased sensitivity to the euphoric, rewarding effects of ethanol) (e.g., Begleiter & Porjesz, 1999; Schuckit, 1994). Likewise, rodent lines selectively bred for high alcohol intakes typically are insensitive to the aversive and sedating effects of alcohol (e.g., Green & Grahame, 2008).
