Special Section

227 Studies indicate that sons of alcoholics (SOA’s) differ from sons of nonalcoholics (non-SOA’s) on a range of physiological activity measures, and the differences appear to be related to the SOA’s increased vulnerability to developing alcohol problems. Researchers hope that investigating such differences will offer insights into the factors that may be responsible for SOA’s higher risk for alcohol abuse. This article summarizes the major findings on differential physiological responses from studies conducted to date. Unfortunately, most of these studies examine physiological activity only in SOA’s and exclude daughters of alcoholics. The reason typically given for this exclusion is that some data suggest that sons, but not daughters, of alcoholics are at elevated risk for alcoholism.1 Nonetheless, it is encouraging that the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) now funds studies on children of alcoholics only if the research design includes both sons and daughters. Studies of SOA’s usually assess physiological responses, such as brain wave (electroencephalographic [EEG]) activity,2 autonomic nervous system3 responses (e.g., heart rate or perspiration), body sway,4 and hormone levels, in reaction to three general scenarios: (1) nonstressful, resting conditions; (2) stressful conditions; and (3) after drinking alcohol. Although SOA’s are not a homogeneous population, certain physiological responses often characterize them. This article reviews research findings for each of these three distinct scenarios.