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Co-occurrence and Cotransmission of Affective Disorders and Alcoholism in Families

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2018

W. Maier  and
K. Merikangas
W. Maier*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Bonn, Germany
K. Merikangas
Affiliation:
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, US
*
Professor Wolfgang Maier, Psychiatrische Klinik der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, D53105 Bonn, Germany
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Abstract

The analysis of patterns of co-occurrence and cotransmission of affective disorders and alcoholism in families may provide clues for understanding the excess comorbidity between these conditions in clinical settings and in the general population. This paper reports the results of a family study of the relatives of patients with bipolar disorder, unipolar depression and alcoholism, and combinations thereof. Excess comorbidity between affective disorders and alcoholism was observed in all groups of relatives. However, the sharing of familial aetiological components was not a major contributor to the excess comorbidity between affective disorders and alcoholism. Unipolar depression and alcoholism segregated independently in families, whereas a modest correlation between familial components of alcoholism and bipolar disorder was observed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 168 , Issue S30: Comorbidity of Mood Disorders , June 1996 , pp. 93 - 100
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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