A French family study of two groups of alcoholic men

Abstract

SummaryAlcoholic and psychiatric family history were investigated in two groups of alcoholics, recruited differently, and controls. Alcoholics with or without a family history of alcoholism (AFH + and AFH − ) were compared with regard to professional qualifications, personal psychiatric history, age at onset and reasons given for becoming alcoholic. The results can be summarized as follows: the family ‘aggregate’ of alcoholism found was independent of the recruitment. This was not the case for personal psychiatric history for which a gradient was found in the two alcoholic groups. Rates of alcoholism were higher in both the first and second degree relatives. Alcoholics with AFH+ and AFH− differed significantly with regard to inducement by profession, and tended to differ as to age of onset.