Behavioral inhibition in children from families at high risk for developing alcoholism.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether children at risk for the development of adult alcohol dependence would show greater "behavioral inhibition" to the unfamiliar, an early childhood temperament characteristic.

METHOD

One hundred peer play evaluations were conducted blindly with preschool children from families selected to be at high or low risk for developing alcohol dependence. Each child was paired with different children (same-sex pairs) in independent sessions to determine the stability of the behavioral response.

RESULTS

High-risk children spent significantly more time staring at the other child during the peer play session while refraining from engaging in play, and significantly less time speaking to the other child. Significantly more time was spent proximal to the parent, but only on the first peer play session. These behaviors have been shown to be indicators of behavioral inhibition.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that the presence of behavioral inhibition to the unfamiliar in childhood may be a risk factor for later development of alcohol dependence. While there is abundant evidence that childhood externalizing behaviors are risk factors for later development of substance dependence, the present results suggest that internalizing behaviors may be a pathway as well.