Experimental mood inductions in persons at high and low risk for alcohol problems

High-risk and low-risk participants (defined on the basis of presence or absence of family history of alcohol problems) were compared on reactions to positive and negative mood inductions and a nonalcoholic beer taste test that followed. After the negative induction, high-risk participants experienced negative affect more intensely than low-risk participants. In the taste test, high-risk participants drank more nonalcoholic beer than low-risk participants. The results imply that high-risk participants, compared with low-risk participants, (a) are more reactive to negative emotion-arousing stimuli and (b) are more strongly motivated to drink alcohol in negative emotion-arousing situations.