The proposed study focuses on the contribution of family history of alcoholism as a possible antecedent risk factor for alcohol problems in women. An association between alcohol problems and family history of alcoholism is well established in men, but equivocal for women. It has been demonstrated that after an acute dose of .75ml/kg 95% ethanol (a typical social dose), young men with positive family histories of alcoholism (FHP) report lower subjective intoxication levels than those with negative family histories of alcoholism (FHN), despite similar blood alcohol levels in each group. No comparable study exists for young women. It is proposed to study healthy female volunteers ages 21 to 25 who drink the equivalent of less than 30 ml of ethyl alcohol per day. Volunteers will be screened for family history of alcoholism in first degree relatives (biological parents and full siblings). Women with negative histories of alcoholism in first degree relatives will be classified as FHN, and women with alcoholic fathers will be selected from the FHP group. Sixty pairs of FHP and FHN women (n = 120) will be matched for age, socioeconomic status, education, height-weight ratio, and drinking patterns. Subjects will be studied during the follicular menstrual cycle phase to minimize hormonal variability. Each subject will be tested on 2 days. On Day 1 (prestudy evaluation), behavioral and psychomotor tests will be administered under conditions of sobriety using monetary incentives to ensure maximal baseline scores. On Day 2 (acute studies), subjects will be administered standardized subjective, behavioral, and psychomotor tests twice during baseline and 7 times under a balanced placebo design. In order to separate expectancy from pharmacological effects both the content of the mixture (alcohol placebo or .75 ml/kg 95% alcohol and fruit juice) and the instructional set will be manipulated in a 2 x 2 design whereby 15 subjects in each FHP and FHN group (n = 30) will: both expect and receive placebo, expect placebo, but will receive alcohol, expect alcohol but receive placebo, or both expect and receive alcohol. Monetary incentives will be used to encourage subjects to perform tests to the extent of their capacities. Results will be statistically compared for both pairs and groups of FHP and FHN women under Day l and Day 2 conditions. Data obtained will elucidate similarities and differences between young female FHP and FHN moderate drinkers, and indicate similarities to or differences from both nonalcoholic and alcoholic FHP and FHN women and men.
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