The long-term objective of the proposed study is to elucidate the etiology and pathogenesis of alcoholism. We propose to conduct a 30 year follow-up study of 223 Danish men at high-risk for alcoholism by virtue of having alcoholic fathers, and 107 low-risk control subjects with nonalcoholic parents. Both groups were examined perinatally and at one year of age, in 1959-1962, as part of an extensive cohort study. Their school medical and psychological records have also been collected. The two groups were extensively studied again at ages 18-20 during 1979-1980, at which time detailed social, educational, psychological, neurological and neurophysiological data were collected. Beginning in the Fall of 1989, a qualified psychiatrist will obtain information about the drinking history, psychopathology, social and family history, drinking by the biological parents, parental rearing behavior, and personality of the subjects. DSM-III-R criteria will be applied when appropriate. Specific goals: (1) Identify markers of future drinking behavior by comparing data obtained before drinking began (including perinatal data) with outcome measures when the subjects are about 30 years of age; (2) By identifying markers of alcoholism, increase the ability to predict its occurrence and apply appropriate, preventive measures; (3) Thereby increase our understanding of the causes of alcoholism. In summary, this is a four-phase longitudinal study. The first two phases (perinatal and predrinking data base) have been accomplished. We are now seeking funding for phase three, the essential first follow-up of subjects as adults that will examine the predictive associations between previously obtained measures and various outcomes, especially drinking outcomes. The fourth and final phase is planned for a period when the subjects are in their middle forties.
| Sorensen, Holger J; Manzardo, Ann M; Knop, Joachim et al. (2011) The contribution of parental alcohol use disorders and other psychiatric illness to the risk of alcohol use disorders in the offspring. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 35:1315-20 |
| Goodwin, D W; Gabrielli Jr, W F; Penick, E C et al. (1999) Breast-feeding and alcoholism: the Trotter hypothesis. Am J Psychiatry 156:650-2 |
| Volavka, J; Czobor, P; Goodwin, D W et al. (1996) The electroencephalogram after alcohol administration in high-risk men and the development of alcohol use disorders 10 years later. Arch Gen Psychiatry 53:258-63 |
