Developmental behavior-genetic perspective of alcoholism etiology.

Gene-environment interactions underlying the etiology of alcoholism are amenable to investigation from a behavior-genetic perspective. The organismic characteristics that most frequently and reliably have been found to predispose to alcoholism are behavioral traits. Certain behavioral traits, viz., temperaments, have a substantial heritable contribution and comprise the elements from which complex habit patterns and personality traits develop. The unique interaction between the individual possessing certain extreme deviations in temperament traits with environmental contingencies occurring during the course of psychosocial development and throughout adulthood is hypothesized to determine the risk during any period of the lifespan for an alcoholism outcome.