In alcohol research, features of the social environment have been shown to mediate or moderate the effect of hereditary predispositions towards alcohol use that involve disinhibition and behavioral undercontrol. For instance, studies using a sample of Finnish adolescent twins found that genetic risk factors have relatively little influence on drinking behaviors in rural areas, attributing this interaction to limited access to alcohol and lower exposure to adolescent drinking in these environments (Dick et al. 2001; Rose et al. 2001). Likewise, research indicated that the influence of high-risk genotypes on alcohol misuse was diminished in the presence of positive family relations and high parental monitoring (Dick et al. 2009; Nilsson et al. 2005; Pescosolido et al. 2008). Religious upbringing also exhibited protective effects, reducing the influence of genetic risk on alcohol outcomes (Koopmans et al. 1999). These GxE effects likely relate to the behavioral under-control-disinhibition theory of alcohol dependence, in which individuals are genetically predisposed to impulsivity and externalizing behavior through neurological pathways (Dick et al. 2010; Villafuerte et al. 2012). These heritable traits may manifest as conduct disorder or other
