The Unit of Family Studies has two major functions (1) to recruit and assess alcoholics, controls and their families, for various investigators within the Laboratory of Clinical Studies; and (2) to conduct psychosocial studies of alcoholic families and their individual members. In the current year, Unit staff have focused on coding and entering onto a computer the data collected since the inception of the Laboratory. A series of correlational studies comparing different subtypes of alcoholics are underway. A preliminary study comparing suicidal versus non-suicidal alcoholics on clinical, psychosocial and family variables has been carried out. In addition, the Unit has begun a study examining middle class black alcoholic families. Unit staff have also been collaborating with the Unit on Genetic Studies in identifying and phenotyping several pedigrees for linkage analysis.
