Brain damage and neuropsyochological impairment in female and male alcoholics and implications for their offspring

Abstract

Matched pairs of 40 male and 40 female alcoholic inpatients living in Stockholm were examined and found to fulfill the alcoholism criteria of DSM‐III‐R. They comprised 40 matched pairs of men and women consecutively admitted to the Karolinska Alcohol Clinic and staying at least one week for treatment. The examination included a general medical examination, a psychiatric and social history, blood tests, ECG, computed tomography of the brain and neuropsychological testing. The subjects’ and their families’ possibilities of creating a good upbringing environment and their own and their children's childhood were studied. The alcoholics and their offspring were followed from the registers of the child welfare committees, temperance boards, social service departments, the Social Insurance Office and the Medical Information System of the Medical Services Board of Stockholm County Council. The children of the female alcoholics had, during their childhood, more often had contact with an educational welfare officer...