This project is designed to assess psychiatric disorders and addictive behaviors in the first degree relatives of a sample of opiate addicts and to evaluate the applicability of genetic and non-genetic models as explanations for the patterns of disorders observed in the addicts' families. The design follows in part from our previous work with opiate addicts which indicates that this population is heterogenous for psychiatric disorders, with secondary depression and antisocial personality being the most commonly diagnosed conditions. In this study, three groups of addicted probands will be evaluated: addicts with no additional diagnosis, addicts with secondary depression, and addicts with antisocial personality. First degree relatives of probands will be evaluated for addictive behaviors, substance use patterns, psychiatric disorders, and personality characteristics. In addition, aspects of family functioning such as separation or divorce of parents, excessive closeness, and crossed ethnicity of parents will also be assessed. Rates of psychiatric disorders in the surrounding community and comparable data on the first degree relatives of depressives and normals are available from previously completed research for comparison to findings with opiate addicts. Data analysis will be carried out to evaluate several types of issues. An epidemiological analysis will assess relative risk of addicts' family members for psychiatric disorders in comparison to community rates. Other analyses will assess the extent to which observed patterns of addictive behaviors in addicts families are compatible with various genetic models for transmission of the trait and the extent to which the findings are compatible with hypotheses regarding nongenetic familial factors in opiate addiction.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 12 publications
