Am J Psychiatry 1982; 139:791-794
Copyright © 1982 by American Psychiatric Association
A study of young men with alcoholic close relatives
MA Schuckit
In this first stage of a prospective investigation, the author found that
14% of 304 male university students and employees responding to a
questionnaire had alcoholic first-degree relatives. While these 44 men had
demographic and alcohol-intake characteristics similar to those of the
other subjects, they had significantly more alcohol, drug, and psychiatric
problems. These findings are consistent with reports of an enhanced risk
for future alcoholism in young men with alcoholic relatives. This study
demonstrates the feasibility of surveying populations of young men to
identify individuals at hypothesized risk for alcoholism and reinforces the
need for prospective studies of alcoholism in different groups.
