This study offers a unique opportunity to assess the role of autonomic factors in predisposing to alcohol abuse/dependence within the context of a 30-year prospective study of alcoholism. In 1979-1980 sons of alcoholics and controls were assessed with an extensive battery of variables when aged 19-20 years. A grant recently awarded to Donald Goodwin, M.D. by ADAMHA is currently allowing assessment of early psychopathology and early onset alcohol abuse in these subjects who are now aged 32 years. Included in the earlier data assessment wave in 1979-1980 were skin conductance and heart rate measures of autonomic arousal and reactivity to auditory stimuli. These data have not yet been scored or analyzed.
The aim of this study is to score these autonomic data and test some of the predictions generated by stress response dampening theory regarding patterns of autonomic activity at age 19-20 years which will predict drinking problems at age 32. Specifically, are measures of autonomic arousal and responsivity measured at age 19-20 before the onset of alcohol-related problems capable of (a) differentiating sons of alcoholics from sons of non-alcoholics, (b) predicting which high risk subjects will succumb to later alcohol-related problems 12 years later, (c) differentiating alcohol abusers with antisocial personality from non- antisocial alcohol abusers. The proposed study would constitute the first long-term prospective study of the potential role of autonomic factors measured prior to the onset alcohol abuse in predisposing towards later alcohol abuse. This study could contribute to a significant increase in our knowledge of the etiology of both alcoholism and alcohol-related crime which in turn could have significant implications for intervention and prevention.
| Raine, A; Bihrle, S; Venables, P H et al. (1999) Skin-conductance orienting deficits and increased alcoholism in schizotypal criminals. J Abnorm Psychol 108:299-306 |
