Lifetime History Of Alcohol Dependence Research Articles

Alcohol dependence and conduct disorder among Navajo Indians.

The purpose of this study is to examine the association between conduct disorder before age 15 and subsequent alcohol dependence, and to describe the lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence among Navajo Indian women and men. This was a case-control design which included both men (n = 735) and women (n = 351) and in which the Diagnostic Interview Schedule was used for the diagnosis of the lifetime history of alcohol dependence and conduct disorder. Alcohol dependent cases were selected from inpatient and outpatient treatment programs (204 men, 148 women). Whenever possible, controls were matched for age, sex and community of residence and were randomly selected and interviewed until a nonalcohol dependent individual was found. Among the men, there were 374 alcohol dependent controls and 157 nonalcohol dependent controls. Among the women, the figures were 60 and 143, respectively. When combined, the controls comprise samples of the adult male and female populations from which estimates of lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence, and of the amount of alcohol dependence in the population attributable to conduct disorder, may be inferred. Conduct disorder is a risk factor for alcohol dependence among both men and women. Lifetime prevalence of alcohol dependence in this population is high (70.4% for men and 29.6% for women), but the amount of alcohol dependence in the population attributable to conduct disorder is low. On the other hand, among the alcohol dependent, those with conduct disorder had the most severe alcohol- and nonalcohol-related problems. The potential limitations of the study are those common to case-control designs, especially biased recall by cases. There are also potential sampling biases among the controls. It is shown that none of the potential biases invalidate the findings, which support the hypothesis that in this population conduct disorder is a risk for alcohol dependence. The implications for primary prevention of alcohol dependence are discussed.

Self-Reported Alcohol Use Patterns in a Sample of Male and Female Heavy Smokers

ABSTRACT In an attempt to characterize differences among male and female smokers based on past and current alcohol use, we studied patterns of drinking, smoking, caffeine intake, and depression as a function of lifetime history of alcohol dependence and current drinking status in a community sample of current smokers. Subjects were 65 male and 152 female moderate-to-heavy smokers. The CAGE was used to screen for lifetime history of alcohol dependence; current drinking status was classified using self-reported number of alcoholic drinks/week. No significant differences were detected for smoking rate, scores on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence, or either coffee or total caffeine intake. Drinkers with a history of alcohol dependence drank significantly more per

Nicotine withdrawal in women

Associations between self-report symptom profiles for nicotine withdrawal, personality (TPQ, EPQ-R), life-time history of psychopathology and smoking history were examined in data obtained from 553 female adult Australian twins (246 regular smokers), aged 32-48 years, who had participated in a telephone interview survey that included life-time assessments of smoking history, nicotine dependence and symptoms of withdrawal. Two hundred and two respondents were from high-risk pairs where either the respondent or the respondent's co-twin had reported a life-time history of alcohol dependence; 351 were from control pairs. Latent class analysis was used to identify subtypes ('classes') of smokers reporting similar withdrawal symptom profiles. Three major classes were identified which appeared to represent a continuum from mild to severe nicotine withdrawal. Smokers from the severe withdrawal class were best characterized by hands shaking and by the prominence of depressive features. There were marked increases in life-time alcohol dependence rates as a function of severity class. In contrast, significantly elevated rates of major depression, conduct disorder and anxiety disorder were observed only among smokers from the most severe withdrawal class. Neuroticism was the only personality factor strongly associated with the development of withdrawal symptoms.

Nicotine withdrawal in women

Associations between self-report symptom profiles for nicotine withdrawal, personality (TPQ, EPQ-R), life-time history of psychopathology and smoking history were examined in data obtained from 553 female adult Australian twins (246 regular smokers), aged 32-48 years, who had participated in a telephone interview survey that included life-time assessments of smoking history, nicotine dependence and symptoms of withdrawal. Two hundred and two respondents were from high-risk pairs where either the respondent or the respondent's co-twin had reported a life-time history of alcohol dependence; 351 were from control pairs. Latent class analysis was used to identify subtypes (‘classes’) of smokers reporting similar withdrawal symptom profiles. Three major classes were identified which appeared to represent a continuum from mild to severe nicotine withdrawal. Smokers from the severe withdrawal class were best characterized by hands shaking and by the prominence of depressive features. There mere marked increases in life-time alcohol dependence rates as a function of severity class. In contrast, significantly elevated rates of major depression, conduct disorder and anxiety disorder were observed only among smokers from the most severe withdrawal class. Neuroticism was the only personality factor strongly associated with the development of withdrawal symptoms.

A prospective study of the natural course of alcoholism in a Native American village.

This study examines the natural course of alcoholism in a Native American village. We found that the remission rates of alcoholism were quite similar despite the different methods used: life histories (SADS-L interview) showed a 63% remission rate; a 19-year follow-up prospective showed 60% in remission; and following a cohort of all those who developed alcoholism in the village over the previous 19 years revealed a 60.9% remission rate. The data also showed vast differences in drinking problems between men and women. In the span of 19 years, the differences of point prevalence rates of alcoholism between men and women have jumped from that of two times (52% vs 26%) to five times (36.4% vs 7%). Furthermore, the results showed women had a higher rate of alcohol abuse (8.4% vs 3.6%) and a far higher remission rate (82% vs 52%) when compared to men. Three-fourths of the men in the studied sample had a lifetime history of alcohol dependence. They usually began drinking in their teens and developed dependency by their early twenties. About half stopped after an average of 15 years of drinking. The majority (83%) of the subjects who stopped drinking did so spontaneously or for specific personal-related reasons rather than because they received alcohol treatment.

The comorbidity of obsessive-compulsive disorder and alcoholism

We assessed 50 male alcohol-dependent subjects for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and 25 male and 25 female obsessive-compulsive patients for a history of alcoholism. Structured interviews revealed that 12% of the alcoholic subjects currently met DSM-III-R criteria for OCD, a rate approximately five to six times as great as that in the general population. Although it is widely believed that OCD is rare among Black people, four out of the six alcoholic subjects with OCD were Black. Also, structured interviews revealed that 16% of the obsessive-compulsive men and 4% of the obsessive-compulsive women had a lifetime history of alcohol dependence. These rates do not appear higher than those found in community samples. These data suggest that estimates of the comorbidity of OCD and alcoholism depend upon the population sampled.