This is a proposal 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 addicts' families. Continued support is requested: 1) to complete and expand the data analysis and 2) to conduct a pilot/feasibility study of psychiatric disorders and indices of disturbed functioning in the children of opiate addicts in our sample. Over the next several months we will have obtained psychiatric diagnoses based on Research Diagnostic Criteria in a sample of 210 opiate addicts and 900 adult first-degree relatives. Preliminary analyses on a partial sample suggest that rates of psychiatric disorders in opiate addicts' first-degree relatives are: a) high in comparison with community rates, b) related to co-existent psychiatric disorders in the opiate-addict probands, c) related to the generation of the relative. In addition, parental disorders including major depression and substance abuse are associated with higher risk for psychiatric disorders in opiate addicts' siblings. Extension of the time allotted for analysis of the final data set is requested a) in order to allow time to complete the original extensive analysis of this complex data set, b) to evaluate methodological issues concerning diagnoses obtained from different sources of information and c) to evaluate the heterogeneity of opiate addict probands as it relates to familial transmission of disorders. To increase the genetic, epidemiologic, and clinical yield of this study's findings, we propose to conduct a pilot investigation of an estimated 165 children of opiate addicts in our sample. Information on psychological functioning, behavioral problems, social functioning, and psychiatric diagnosis (for children 8 and up) will be obtained from opiate addict parents, primary caregivers, teachers, and direct interview (for children 8 and up) in order to a) evaluate the accessibility of children in the sample to determine the adequacy of the sample size in a later, more definitive study, b) generate preliminary findings from interviews of adult informants which might indicate the promise of a more extensive study with interviews of all children, c) detect possible precursors of psychiatric disorders in children before theys have reached age of maximum risk for many childhood disorders, d) evaluate the reliability and validity of data derived from different sources about the children.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
2R01DA003090-04
Application #
3207700
Study Section
Drug Abuse Epidemiology and Prevention Research Review Committee (DAPA)
Project Start
1983-04-01
Project End
1988-02-29
Budget Start
1986-06-01
Budget End
1987-02-28
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
1986
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Yale University
Department
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
082359691
City
New Haven
State
CT
Country
United States
Zip Code
06520
Luthar, S S (1993) Annotation: methodological and conceptual issues in research on childhood resilience. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 34:441-53
Luthar, S S; Rounsaville, B J (1993) Substance misuse and comorbid psychopathology in a high-risk group: a study of siblings of cocaine misusers. Int J Addict 28:415-34
Luthar, S S; Glick, M; Zigler, E et al. (1993) Social competence among cocaine abusers: moderating effects of comorbid diagnoses and gender. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse 19:283-98
Luthar, S S; Merikangas, K R; Rounsaville, B J (1993) Parental psychopathology and disorders in offspring. A study of relatives of drug abusers. J Nerv Ment Dis 181:351-7
Luthar, S S; Anton, S F; Merikangas, K R et al. (1992) Vulnerability to substance abuse and psychopathology among siblings of opioid abusers. J Nerv Ment Dis 180:153-61
Luthar, S S; Anton, S F; Merikangas, K R et al. (1992) Vulnerability to drug abuse among opioid addicts' siblings: individual, familial, and peer influences. Compr Psychiatry 33:190-6
Kosten, T R; Kosten, T A; Rounsaville, B J (1991) Alcoholism and depressive disorders in opioid addicts and their family members. Compr Psychiatry 32:521-7
Rounsaville, B J; Kosten, T R; Weissman, M M et al. (1991) Psychiatric disorders in relatives of probands with opiate addiction. Arch Gen Psychiatry 48:33-42
Kosten, T R; Rounsaville, B J; Kosten, T A et al. (1991) Gender differences in the specificity of alcoholism transmission among the relatives of opioid addicts. J Nerv Ment Dis 179:392-400
Rounsaville, B J; Kosten, T; Kleber, H (1985) Success and failure at outpatient opioid detoxification. Evaluating the process of clonidine- and methadone-assisted withdrawal. J Nerv Ment Dis 173:103-10

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