One‐Month Repeatability of Emotional Responses to Alcohol

Abstract

Thirty‐four subjects in the Colorado Alcohol Research on Twins and Adoptees (CARTA) were brought back between 30 to 60 days after their initial testing to be retested on all the CARTA procedures. As before, subjects were given a dose of ethanol (0.8 g/kg) calculated to bring their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to near 0.10 g/dl. Additional doses were given at the end of each of the next 2 hr to maintain their BAC near peak for approximately 3 hr. During both testings, subjects' self‐reports of their emotional responses and perceived intoxication following alcohol dosing were only minimally correlated with their alcohol metabolism parameters and reported average level of alcohol use. Repeatabilities (test‐retest correlations) for subjects' self‐reports of positive affect and of intoxication following alcohol dosing were consistently high, in contrast to earlier reports of minimal repeatabilities for alcohol metabolism and responses to alcohol on physiological, motor coordination, reaction time, and perceptual speed measures. Tester ratings of the subjects' levels of intoxication were also moderately stable between the two testings.