Alcohol In Sons Research Articles

Predictors of alcoholism in sons of alcoholics at age 40

Predictors of alcoholism in sons of alcoholics at age 40

Chronic tolerance and sensitization to alcohol in sons of alcoholics: II. Replication and reanalysis.

Chronic tolerance and sensitization to alcohol in sons of alcoholics: II. Replication and reanalysis.

Is a mild deficit in executive functions in boys related to childhood ADHD or to parental multigenerational alcoholism?

A mild deficit in executive functions has been hypothesized to be associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with externalizing problem behaviors such as conduct disorder (CD) and with the vulnerability to alcoholism in sons of multi-generational alcoholics (SOMGAs). These three categories overlap, which raises concerns about the specificity of the hypothesized associations. In the present study, measures of executive functions (EFs) were tested in seventy-six 7- to 11-year-old boys: boys with ADHD but without a family history of addiction, SOMGAs, and controls. Specific deficits in EFs were found for boys with ADHD but not for SOMGAs. The association between a deficit in EFs and attention problems remained after controlling for externalizing problem behaviors, but not for the reverse. These results suggest that a mild deficit in EFs is specifically related to ADHD and that the deficits reported in boys with CD and in SOMGAs are due to relatively high attentional problems in these groups or due to other factors such as motivation.

Assessing the risk for alcoholism among sons of alcoholics.

A low level of response (LR) to alcohol has been shown to predict a high future risk for alcoholism. Studies to date have incorporated both alcoholism family history positive (FHP) and negative (FHN) subjects, but no prospective investigation has evaluated the predictive power of LR among the higher risk FHP individuals alone. If LR can be adequately evaluated without considering FHN controls, future studies of this high risk group can be done more efficiently. As part of a larger study, at an average of over 8 years after original testing, alcoholic outcomes were evaluated with personal interviews for 133 white sons of alcoholic fathers. The development of alcoholism for men whose LR scores at about age 20 fell into the lower third of intensity was compared to the development of alcoholism for men whose LR scores fell above the median. The high and low extremes on LR resulted in an 85.0% sensitivity and 58.9% specificity regarding the prediction of future alcoholism in sons of alcoholics. These results remained robust even after controlling for the quantity and frequency of alcohol intake at the time of original testing. The data indicate that future research on the relationship between LR and the risk for alcoholism in FHPs can be carried out with a single intoxicating dose of alcohol and without FHN controls.

Meta-analysis of subjective sensitivity to alcohol in sons of alcoholics

Meta-analysis was used to review the research literature on self-reported sensitivity to alcohol among sons of alcoholic and among normal control subjects. Computerized and manual searches identified 17 eligible independent articles; nine contained the information necessary to compute effect sizes, and additional data on two other studies were provided by authors in response to written and telephone requests. Findings from 10 studies indicated that sons of alcoholics report significantly less sensitivity to alcohol than normal control subjects overall and during the ascending (i.e., 0-35 minutes after alcohol) and descending (i.e., 40-240 minutes after alcohol) limbs of the blood alcohol curve. Response to placebo did not significantly distinguish these groups in the five studies that included such assessment. It may be appropriate to appraise the biological sons of male alcoholics that they may experience less subjective sensitivity to alcohol than other individuals, but it is not possible to predict whether any particular individual will experience such lower sensitivity. In addition, self-report data can be influenced by many factors, and further research that assesses multiple psychological and physiological measures and uses longitudinal designs is needed to determine the relationship between specific factors and the development of alcoholism.

Chronic Tolerance and Sensitization to Alcohol in Sons of Alcoholics

In view of conflicting results concerning differences between sons of alcoholics and sons of nonalcoholics in response to a single alcohol challenge (with a given dose), we exposed these high and low risk groups to several sessions in which they drank alcohol at the same dose in order to measure the development of chronic tolerance or sensitization with repeated doses. Sons of alcoholics and sons of nonalcoholics received a moderate dose of alcohol (0.5 g/kg) in three sessions with alcohol, followed by a placebo session. Sons of alcoholics developed reverse tolerance or chronic sensitization to repeated dosings of alcohol in finger pulse amplitude, while sons of nonalcoholics did not. Sons of alcoholics failed to show chronic tolerance in skin conductance and finger temperature, while sons of alcoholics did show the development of tolerance. Sons of alcoholics demonstrated greater motor activity throughout the sessions, both before and after alcohol. These results indicate that high and low risk groups differ in terms of their developmental adaptation to alcohol, as well as in the temperamental trait of behavioral activity.

Genetic Studies of Alcoholism

This paper reviews recent developments in the evaluation of genetic factors in alcoholism. After presenting the results of family, twin, and adoption studies, the authors turn to investigations focusing on children of alcoholics. An emphasis is placed on the finding of a decreased intensity of reaction to alcohol in sons and daughters of alcoholics. The potential implications of these findings are discussed.

Reactions to alcohol in sons of alcoholics and controls.

This paper synthesizes some major findings coming from our laboratory over the last decade. The data focuses on our search for mechanisms that might contribute to the elevated risk for alcoholism in sons of alcoholic fathers. Consistent results corroborated by several additional groups indicate that the higher risk sons of alcoholics demonstrate less intense reactions to ethanol as measured by their subjective self-reports, measures of body sway, changes in several hormones after drinking, and the intensity or persistence of ethanol-related changes on two electrophysiological measures. The potential implications of these results as they might relate to an enhanced vulnerability to alcoholism, and some possible future research directions, are discussed.

Behavioral effects of alcohol in sons of alcoholics.

This paper describes a search for genetically mediated biological factors that contribute to a predisposition toward alcoholism. Healthy, nonalcoholic, drinking men aged 21 to 25 who have a close alcoholic relative were selected as the family history positive (FHP) or higher risk subjects and matched with lower risk controls (family history negative, or FHN) on demography, drinking and smoking history, and height to weight ratio. Comparisons of this higher and lower risk population revealed no significant differences in selected personality attributes, and an alcohol challenge resulted in identical patterns of blood alcohol over time. However, the FHP men developed higher levels of the first breakdown product of ethanol, acetaldehyde, after drinking, demonstrated a less intense intoxication than the FHN controls despite identical blood alcohol concentrations, and tended to show a lower amplitude of a positive brain wave sent at about 300 msec in an event-related potential paradigm. These results may be clues to help investigators identify genetic markers of a predisposition toward alcoholism.

Electroencephalograms in children of alcoholic fathers.

ABSTRACTThe present study tested the hypothesis that 12‐yr‐old sons of alcoholic fathers will evidence an excess of fast EEG activity. Such sons have been shown to be at high risk for alcoholism. In this study, EEGs were recorded on a sample of 265 subjects who had been selected to maximize risk for deviant behavior (children of schizophrenics and children of psychopathic or character disordered parents) or selected as controls (children of normal parents). The sample included 27 children of alcoholic fathers and 258 children of non‐alcoholic parents. The hypothesis was confirmed, suggesting that the biological risk for alcoholism in sons of alcoholics may relate to biological factors predisposing to alcoholism.

Alcohol related flushing and risks for alcoholism in sons of alcoholics

Alcohol related flushing and risks for alcoholism in sons of alcoholics

Biological markers: Metabolism and acute reaction to alcohol in sons of alcoholics

Biological markers: Metabolism and acute reaction to alcohol in sons of alcoholics

Biological markers: Metabolism and acute reactions to alcohol in sons of alcoholics

Substantial evidence has accumulated to indicate that defined aspects of primary alcoholism may be inherited. Family history studies, genetic marker studies, twin studies and adoption studies all contribute to this conclusion. Current studies of possible biological mediators of predisposing factors indicate that men with a family history of alcoholism exhibit higher circulating levels of acetaldehyde after ingestion of ethanol compared to control subjects. Subjects with a family history of alcoholism also respond differently from controls on subjective measures of intoxication and on physiologic measures of ethanol's effects.