This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. Studies have shown that alcohol abuse and alcoholism have features that make it similar to other diseases (e.g., established genetic underpinnings, deleterious early histories, environmental risk factors). Studies have made it increasingly clear that as a disease, alcohol related disorders are not homogeneous in origin. Cloninger, for example, identifies Type 1 alcoholism, with its etiology based on high anxiety and a strong response to stress. Subjects with Type 1 Alcoholism are postulated to consume alcohol primarily for its antianxiety properties [2, 3]. Among Type 1 alcohol abusers, alcohol is used as an antianxiety agent to reduce anxiety. In this proposal, we plan to capitalize on the ongoing BioBehavioral Assessment (BBA), which is designed to characterize a wide variety of behaviors related to anxiety and to measure the response to stress in young monkeys. We hypothesize that 1) BBA measures of high anxiety will be positively correlated with higher alcohol intake;2) High cortisol levels taken early in life will be positively correlated with higher alcohol intake;3). A third indirect hypothesis is that measures of anxiety obtained in infants through the BBA program will be positively correlated with anxiety measures obtained when the subjects are adolescents.
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