High Risk For Alcoholism Research Articles

Auditory brainstem potentials in sons of alcoholic fathers.

With the use of event-related brain potentials we have observed sensory as well as cognitive deficits in abstinent alcoholics. By recording auditory brainstem potentials (BSP) from abstinent alcoholics we demonstrated significant delays in brainstem transmission time. We have also reported that P3 amplitudes are significantly reduced in abstinent alcoholics compared to control subjects. Although the neurophysiological deficits observed in abstinent alcoholics are presumed to be alcohol-related effects, it is possible that some of these deficits may exist prior to alcohol exposure, and may be present in subjects at high risk for alcoholism. We have recently observed significantly reduced P3 components in young sons of alcoholics similar to those observed in abstinent alcoholics. In the present study, we examined auditory BSPs in young boys at high risk for alcoholism and matched controls. We found no statistically significant difference in brainstem transmission time between high risk individuals and matched control subjects. These findings suggest that while some brain deficits observed in abstinent alcoholics may antecede the development of alcoholism (P3) and may represent a predisposing factor, other deficits (BSP) appear to be the consequence of alcohol and/or nutritional-related effects.

Men at high risk for alcoholism: The effect of alcohol on cardiovascular response to unavoidable shock.

Men at high risk for alcoholism: The effect of alcohol on cardiovascular response to unavoidable shock.

Auditory recovery function and P3 in boys at high risk for alcoholism

We have previously reported P3 decrements in boys at risk for alcoholism in a complex visual rotation reaction time task. The present study investigated the generalizability of these observations by studying a new high risk sample of boys of Type 2 alcoholic fathers under different experimental conditions. The current experimental design consisted of an easy auditory oddball task (P3) which stressed accuracy over speed of responding, and which also included variable interstimulus intervals (0.5, 1.0 and 5.0 sec), allowing recovery functions to be derived from the evoked responses to frequent non-target stimuli. The results did not yield statistically significant differences between groups in the recovery function data. However the baseline-to-peak results to the target stimulus indicated significant decreases in both P2 and P3 amplitudes in the high risk boys. No differences in latency were obtained between groups. Furthermore frequency analysis of responses to the target stimulus using a multivariate time series model indicated between-group differences at 4 frequencies (1.43, 7.14, 8.6 and 11.43 Hz). These results replicate our previous findings of P3 decrements in boys at risk for alcoholism in a new sample of sons of Type 2 alcoholics. As we have now made these observations with different experimental conditions and sensory modalities, it is suggested that these findings are generalizable.

P3 amplitudes in two distinct tasks are decreased in young men with a history of paternal alcoholism

Visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained in two groups of young adult male subjects: One group (N = 24) considered to be at high risk for alcoholism due to paternal alcoholism and the second group (N = 26) with no family history of alcoholism. Results presented here were obtained during a baseline (no drug) condition. The ERP tasks both were target detection paradigms, but differed in several respects. One paradigm involved continuous participation in a distracting tracking task, but used an easily interpreted target stimulus. The second task involved no distractions, but entailed more complex stimuli. Both paradigms utilized level of task difficulty as an experimental variable. The results from both tasks were quite similar and demonstrated significantly lower ERP amplitudes in the high risk compared to the low risk group. Reaction times to target stimuli did not discriminate group membership, but were related to perceived task difficulty. Task difficulty was not a useful variable in discriminating group membership.

Cerebral laterality and the study of alcoholism

This paper suggests that the strategy of studying individuals at high risk to develop alcoholism by comparing, for example, sons of alcoholic fathers with sons of nonalcoholic fathers might not control for handedness or for patterns of cerebral laterality. In our sample of alcoholic men, at least 50% of the men left-handed or having a left-handed first-degree relative had an alcoholic father, versus only 26% of the right-handed men not having a left-handed first-degree relative. If generalized to nonalcoholic individuals, these data suggest that a larger proportion of the sons of alcoholic fathers either would be left-handed or would have a left-handed first-degree relative, and might have an anomalous pattern of cerebral dominance. Furthermore, several findings associated with being at high risk for alcoholism have also been associated with left-handedness or with left-hemisphere dysfunction.

Men at high risk for alcoholism: the effect of alcohol on cardiovascular response to unavoidable shock.

Men at high risk for alcoholism: the effect of alcohol on cardiovascular response to unavoidable shock.

Perceptual field dependency: predisposing trait or consequence of alcoholism?

Perceptual field dependency often has been reported in alcoholics and frequently implicated as a predisposing trait in alcoholism. Comparing sons of alcoholics who are at high risk for alcoholism to sons of depressed fathers and control fathers (nonalcoholics without history of depression) revealed, however, no differences on the rod and frame test. These results do not support the hypothesis that field dependency is a risk factor in alcoholism.

A prospective study of young men at high risk for alcoholism. Social and psychological characteristics.

In a prospective longitudinal study of alcoholism, we applied the high-risk method using a Danish birth cohort (9125 consecutive deliveries, 1959 to 1961). From the cohort, 134 sons of alcoholic fathers (high-risk group) and 70 matched controls without parental alcoholism were selected for study. Extensive data were collected in a multidisciplinary etiologic approach. We report the social and psychological characteristics from a "premorbid" assessment when the subjects were 19 to 20 years old. The high-risk group reported more disrupted familial conditions during childhood than the control group. Both groups had a drinking pattern similar to that of the general Danish population at the same age. No alcoholic subjects were found. The high-risk group was characterized by poor verbal ability and impulsive behavior. We plan a follow-up examination of the sample.

A prospective study of young men at high risk for alcoholism: neuropsychological assessment.

As part of the first phase of a prospective longitudinal study on alcoholism, a battery of neuropsychological tests covering general intelligence, memory, attention, field-dependence, categorizing ability, and organizing and planning, was administered to 204 18-19-year-old males. Of these, 134 subjects are the sons of alcoholic fathers and are thereby themselves at high risk for becoming alcoholic. The remaining 70 subjects comprise a control group matched for several social and familial variables. The high risk group was found to have a relatively poorer vocabulary and to perform worse on tests of categorizing ability and organization and planning. All of these findings concur with other results from this study. The anticipated future alcoholics from among the high risk subjects may prove to be those who differed most on these tests.

A prospective study of young men at high risk for alcoholism: school behavior and achievement.

From a large consecutive birth cohort in Denmark, 134 sons of alcoholic fathers (high-risk group) and 70 matched controls were selected for a prospective longitudinal study of alcoholism. A premorbid multidisciplinary assessment was conducted at age 19-20. Data were derived from three sources: a social worker interview, a psychopathological interview that also collected information about current drinking pattern, and a questionnaire sent to teachers. The high-risk group reported having experienced a more disturbed school career, and were rated by their teachers as having been more impulsive and as having had poorer verbal proficiency. These factors may be predictive of future alcoholism.

Premorbid assessment of young men at high risk for alcoholism.

The high-risk paradigm has been applied to a group of sons of alcoholic fathers and a control group without parental alcoholism. The sample is selected from a Danish birth cohort (1959 to 1961) including 8949 consecutive deliveries. A multidisciplinary assessment was undertaken when the subjects were 18 to 19 years old. The over-all results from this premorbid phase of the longitudinal study are presented. Items such as impulsivity, restlessness, and specific school problems are characteristic for the high-risk group and may be of predictive importance. A follow-up assessment of the sample is planned during the next five to ten years.

Event-related brain potentials in boys at risk for alcoholism.

Recent neurophysiological findings have demonstrated that abstinent chronic alcoholics manifest deficits in event-related brain potentials. To explore possible biological antecedents of alcoholism the present study examined boys at high risk for alcoholism. Event-related brain potentials were recorded from biological sons of alcoholic fathers and matched control boys. Differences in the P3 component of the potentials were obtained between the high-risk and control subjects.

The EEG after alcohol administration in men at risk for alcoholism.

The biologic sons of alcoholics constitute a group at high risk (HR) for alcoholism. A 0.5-g/kg dose of alcohol was administered to HR and control subjects aged 19 to 21 years. Blood alcohol concentration measurements failed to distinguish HR from control subjects, but quantitative measurements of EEG alpha activity differentiated them. The HR subjects exhibited greater increases in slow alpha energy and greater decreases of fast alpha energy after alcohol administration than controls; the HR subjects also showed greater decreases in mean alpha frequency after alcohol administration. These EEG findings suggest that subjects at high risk for alcoholism are physiologically more sensitive to alcohol than control subjects.

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.

Incidence of treated alcoholism in north-east Scotland, Orkney, and Shetland fishermen, 1966-70.

The psychiatric case register for the north-east of Scotland has been used to calculate the rates for first contact with a diagnosis of alcoholism by fishermen and non-fishermen in the years 1966-70. In each of these years the fishermen had higher rates than non-fishermen as a whole and also higher rates than the non-fishermen from social class IV, which is the social class to which most fishermen belong. The smaller differences between the rates of fishermen and non-fishermen in 1969 and 1970 relative to 1966, 1967, and 1968 may reflect a preferential "shedding" of older alcoholic fishermen at a time when there was a greater than usual contraction in the size of the work force. Differences between the rates for fishermen and non-fishermen were also evident in the age groups 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59, being most pronounced in the 20-29 group. The findings are consistent with fishing being an occupation with a high risk for alcoholism.

Selection of variables in a prospective study of young men at high risk for alcoholism

The Danish adoption studies on alcoholism have established a considerable genetic factor in the development of alcoholism.The basis for the present prospective high risk study is a consecutive birth cohort born 1959–1961 in Copenhagen (n= 9,000). The extensive pre‐and perinatal data include information about admissions in psychiatric departments for all 18,000 parents.We have selected 250 boys, who have a parent treated for alcoholism (high risk group). They have been matched with boys from the same birth cohort, whose parents have not been registered as alcoholics (low risk group).The boys are just entering the age of risk for development of alcoholism, and no abnormalities found at the present time can be described as consequences of heavy drinking.The study is multidisciplinary in its approach, and we have selected neurophysiological, psychophysiological, neuropsychological, metabolic, psychiatric, psychological and social variables to test the most solid hypotheses about alcoholism. The hypotheses and variables are described in this paper.In 10–15 years, when all severe cases of alcoholism will have manifested themselves, we will go back to the 1979 data and see which constellation of variables was most predictive.

Criteria for the diagnosis of alcoholism.

Diagnosis and Treatment1 August 1972Criteria for the Diagnosis of AlcoholismAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-77-2-249 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail AbstractAbstractThese criteria for the diagnosis of alcoholism were compiled by a committee of medical authorities from the National Council on Alcoholism to establish guidelines for the proper diagnosis and evaluation of this disease. Criteria are weighted for diagnostic significance and assembled according to type—"Physiological and Clinical" (including major alcohol-associated illnesses) and "Behaviorial, Psychological, and Attitudinal." Because early diagnosis is helpful in treatment and recovery, manifestations are separated into their earlier and later phases. There are brief discussions of recurrent and arrested alcoholism, cross-dependence, and the types of persons at high risk of alcoholism.

Criteria for the diagnosis of alcoholism by the Criteria Committee, National Council on Alcoholism.

These criteria were compiled by a committee of medical authorities from the National Council on Alcoholism to establish guidelines for the proper diagnosis and evaluation of this disease. Criteria are weighted for diagnostic significance and assembled according to types: Physiological and Clinical (including major alcohol-associated illnesses) and Behavioral, Psychological, and Attitudinal. Because early diagnosis is helpful in treatment and recovery, manifestations are separated into their earlier and later phases. There are brief discussions of recurrent and arrested alcoholism, cross-dependence, and the types of persons at high risk of alcoholism.