PERSONALITY AND EEG-BETA IN OLDER ADULTS WITH ALCOHOLIC RELATIVES

Research indicates that biological relatives of alcoholics are more li kely to develop alcoholism than individuals without alcoholic relative s. Most research on these groups has focused on individuals who were r elatively young (i.e., under 30 years old). In the present study, we e valuated middle-aged and elderly nonalcoholic men and women who did an d did not have alcoholic biological relatives to assess factors that m ight be involved in a later, rather than an earlier, onset of alcoholi sm. Psychological characteristics were assessed using the Tridimension al Personality Questionnaire. Biological characteristics were assessed using quantitative measures of the spontaneous electroencephalagram. The psychological measures did not distinguish the groups, but biologi cal measures did. The results indicated that nonalcoholic individuals with alcoholic relatives showed elevated beta as compared with sex- an d age-matched control subjects. Factors that might have mediated these findings are discussed, as are the implications of these outcomes.