NCJ Number
196555
Journal
American Journal on Addictions Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter 2002 Pages: 1-9
Date Published
2002
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This study examined whether the factors associated with alcohol abuse and dependence were similar in two groups of men, despite their enrollment in different research projects and the resulting differences in education and related background variables.
Abstract
The data were obtained from two groups of men who had ever met criteria for alcohol dependence as defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The first sample, obtained from the San Diego Prospective Study, was selected from among the 439 men who participated in the 15-year follow-up of 453 sons of alcoholics and controls who had been students or nonacademic staff at the University of California-San Diego. Lifetime histories of alcohol dependence were observed in 108 (24.6 percent) of these subjects. The second group (n=306) was selected from participants in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism, an investigation of alcohol-dependent subjects, controls, and their relatives. This second group had a lower educational background than participants in the other group. Both groups received face-to-face interviews and were administered instruments that generated information on a wide range of substance-use disorders and psychiatric diagnoses. Both groups reported high rates of alcohol-related problems, a similar maximum number of drinks per day, and similar proportions of drug use/nonuse, although group 1 subjects were less likely to report alcohol withdrawal and items associated with loss of control. These findings suggest that teachers and clinicians may be able to generalize their knowledge and experience across different groups of alcoholics, using common-sense modifications of their expectations based on the general characteristics of the groups involved, despite differences in background variables, including education, income, marital status, and employment. 2 tables and 19 references