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Alcoholism: The Influence of Parental Illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Marc Schuckit
Affiliation:
Resident in Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 4940 Audubon Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, Resident University of California, San Diego Medical School, La Jolla, California
John Rimmer
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine, 4940 Audubon Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri 63110
George Winokur
Affiliation:
Washington University School of Medicine, now Dept. of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Medical School, Iowa City, Iowa

Extract

Alcoholism is associated with a high family incidence of both alcoholism and affective disorder (1). First degree male relatives of alcoholic probands have a 50 per cent lifetime expectancy for alcoholism, while first degree female relatives have a 50 per cent lifetime expectancy for affective disorder (1). Children of alcoholic parents raised with that parent show no higher, and perhaps less, alcoholism than children of alcoholic parents raised separately (2). This paper looks at the influence of parental alcoholism or affective disorder on the characteristics of alcoholism in probands, their progeny and siblings.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1971 

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References

1. Winokur, G. et al. (1970). ‘Alcoholism III: Diagnosis and familial psychiatric illness in 259 alcoholic probands.’ Arch. gen. Psychiat., 23, 104–11.Google Scholar
2. Schuckit, M. et al. (1971). ‘The half-sibling approach in a genetic study of alcoholism.’ In Life Histories in Psychopathology, Rolf, R., and Robins, L. (ed.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
3. Rimmer, J. et al. (1971). ‘Alcoholism: influence of sex, socioeconomic status, and race.’ Quart. J. Stud. Alc. (in press).Google Scholar
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