Based on theories of internalizing disorders in young children and developmental formulations of SUDs (Fox, Henderson, Marshall, Nichols, & Ghera, 2005; Kagan, Reznick, & Gibbons, 1989; Rubin & Mills, 1991; Tarter et al., 1999), we posit that this pathway first manifests in infancy as a behaviorally inhibited or highly reactive temperament. Behavioral inhibition has been defined as “a restrained, cautious, avoidant reaction to unfamiliar persons, objects, events, or places” (p. 163; Kagan, 2008) and is considered an enduring, biologically mediated feature of temperament. Previous studies show a consistent link between behavioral inhibition in infancy and increasing internalizing symptoms during childhood (Colder, Mott, & Berman, 2002; Colder, Chassin, Stice, & Curran, 1997). Moreover, observer ratings of child behavior also show greater behavioral inhibition among COAs than among their peers (Hill, Lowers, Locke, Snidman, & Kagan, 1999).4 Findings from observational ratings strengthen this conclusion because they indicate that parents from alcoholic families are not simply over-reporting their children’s behavioral inhibition, as might be hypothesized based on findings of biased parental reports of children behavior associated with other forms of parent psychopathology (e.g., Forehand & McCombs, 1988).
