AN EXAMINATION OF THE UNDERLYING INFLUENCE OF TEMPERAMENT AND PROBLEMBEHAVIORS ON DRINKING BEHAVIORS IN A SAMPLE OF ADULT OFFSPRING OF ALCOHOLICS

The present study investigated the potential mediating influence of ch ildhood and early adolescent temperament and problem behaviors on the relation between parental alcoholism and adult drinking behaviors in a sample of 153 offspring of alcoholics and their controls. The influen ce of the alcoholic parent's and the offspring's gender on this relati on was also assessed. Both gender of the parent and gender of the offs pring were found to have important differential effects. More specific ally, individuals with an alcoholic father consumed more alcohol, were more concerned about their drinking, and were more concerned about th e possibility of developing a drinking problem than those without an a lcoholic father. In contrast, no significant relations emerged between maternal alcoholism and drinking behaviors. Gender differences among the offspring were also observed, with males drinking more frequently to ''get high'' and scoring higher on the MAST than females. Finally, gregariousness was found to significantly mediate the relation between paternal alcoholism and frequency of drinking to ''get high'' and fre quency of drinking to ''get drunk'' for males. Possible explanations r egarding the differential results pertaining to gender and the lack of significant findings concerning mediation are discussed.