Cardiovascular reactivity as a predictor of alcohol consumption in a taste test situation.

The existence of a relationship between cardiovascular reactivity to signalled shock and alcohol consumption can be inferred from studies of males at increased familial risk for alcoholism. The present study examined two groups of nonalcoholic men--those with multigenerational histories (MGH) of alcoholism and family--history negative (FH-) controls-to determine whether reactivity was related to voluntary ethanol consumption in the context of a beverage taste test. High reactors, a significant majority of whom were MGH males, drank significantly more vodka and orange juice, rum and coke, and orange juice when asked to rate the flavor of three alcoholic and two nonalcoholic drinks. High reactors also consumed more alcohol on a weekly basis according to their self-report.