FAMILY HISTORY OF ALCOHOLISM AND PSYCHIATRIC CO-MORBIDITY IN BRAZILIAN MALE ALCOHOLICS AND CONTROLS

The present study was aimed at replicating, in a sample of Brazilian s ubjects, findings generated mostly in developed countries on the relat ive prevalence of alcohol problems, associated psychiatric disorders, family history of alcoholism and other familial psychiatric disorders in alcoholics and controls. A group of Brazilian male alcoholics (n = 103) and controls (n = 63) at first admission to ambulatory or inpatie nt treatment were interviewed individually using sections of the Struc tured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. information on demographic cha racteristics, alcohol-related problems, psychiatric problems and famil y history of alcoholism and depression were collected from all subject s. Alcoholics had a higher prevalence of a family history of alcoholis m, a family history of depression and of a personal history of other p sychiatric disorders when compared to controls. Comparisons between FH P and FHN alcoholics, although preliminary, showed few significant dif ferences between these subgroups. Comparisons between FHP and FHN cont rols showed a non-significant trend towards a higher prevalence of psy chiatric problems and towards antisocial behaviours among those with a positive family history of alcoholism. The findings point to the impo rtance of cross-cultural studies on genetic and environmental factors related to alcohol dependence.