The Section of Clinical Assessment and Biological Correlates 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 and psychobiological studies of alcoholic families and their individual members. The Section staff continues to focus on coding and entering into a computer database the data collected since the inception of the Laboratory. Section has developed new methodology for computerized administration of the SCID I & II and the DICA (C/A & P). A double blind-rating system was also established. A series of correlational studies comparing suicidal versus non-suicidal alcoholics on clinical, psychosocial and family variables has been carried out. In addition, the Section has collected data on the adult offspring of alcoholics and non-alcoholics, black and white, respectively; pilot efforts for a follow-up of matched black and white former patients of our inpatient unit has begun. Studies utilizing the database focusing on alcoholism in women have also been initiated. Also, the section does diagnostic assessments on American Indians and Finns. Section staff has also been collaborating with the Laboratory of Neurogenetics in identifying and phenotyping several pedigrees for linkage analysis. Clinical expertise in the psychiatric assessment of children is critical for studies now completed and ongoing; specific studies on conduct disorders in children, utilizing the computerized DICA, have assessed frequency and concordance differences in symptoms reported by child and parent on the same child subsect.
