A developmental-genetic model of alcoholism: implications for genetic research.

The research for biological-genetic markers of alcoholism is discussed in the context of a multifactorial, heterogeneous, developmental model of the disease. It is suggested that the strategies used in both linkage and association studies require modification to accommodate this more complex model. It is also suggested that several extant associations of genetic markers with alcoholism represent true secondary interactive phenomena that alter the outcome of primary alcoholism genotypes at the phenotype level.