Although alcoholism tends to run in families very little is known about how or why some family members express the risk towards alcoholism while other members of the family do not. The study of persons who are most at risk for alcohol abuse (that is, the children of alcoholics) can provide information helpful for understanding some of the behaviors which antedate the risk and protection from alcohol abuse. This study attempts to characterize the behavioral and CNS developmental patterns in the children of alcoholics by clinical, psychosocial and cognitive assessments. First degree relatives are also evaluated so as to compare patterns of functioning between the generations of related individuals sharing a common familial and genetic environment. The present research is designed to be a multivariate and developmentally relevant study of both the risk and protective factors associated with alcohol use and abuse among members of families in which one or both biological parents have been alcoholic.
