Paternal alcoholism predicts the occurrence but not the remission of alcoholic drinking: a 40‐year follow‐up

Abstract

To test the effects of father's alcoholism on the development and remission from alcoholic drinking by age 40. Subjects were selected from a Danish birth cohort that included 223 sons of alcoholic fathers (high risk; HR) and 106 matched controls (low risk; LR). Clinical examinations were performed at age 40 (n = 202) by a psychiatrist using structured interviews and DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria. HR subjects were significantly more likely than LR subjects to develop alcohol dependence (31% vs. 16%), but not alcohol abuse (17% vs. 15%). More subjects with alcohol abuse were in remission at age 40 than subjects with alcohol dependence. Risk did not predict remission from either alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence. Familial influences may play a stronger role in the development of alcoholism than in the remission or recovery from alcoholism.