Familial density of alcoholism and onset of adolescent drinking

Objective: Utilizing a longitudinal prospective design, the purpose of this study was to: (I) assess the age of onset to begin drinking in relation to family history of alcoholism using survival analysis, and (2) examine the importance of selected risk factors in predicting outcome, using a Cox prop ortional hazards model analysis. Method: Fifty-two children and adolescents at low risk for developing alcoholism and 73 children and adolescents from high-risk families were studied. Subjects, spanning the ages of 7 to 18, w ere evaluated annually (268 total evaluations), providing 2.1 waves of long itudinal data concerning age of onset along with a number of predictors (po sitive familial loading of alcoholism, extraversion, and manifest anxiety s cores). Results: High-risk children showed a significantly earlier age of o nset to begin drinking. The Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that the onset could be predicted by a positive familial loading of alcoholism and extraversion. Further analyses revealed that extraversion was a mediato r of the familial density effect. Conclusions: Age of onset to begin drinki ng has been shown in general population studies to predict the likelihood o f developing alcohol/abuse/dependence problems. Further follow-up will dete rmine if these high-risk children develop alcohol abuse/dependence at highe r rates than control children. Further follow-up would also establish links between early childhood predictors, such as having an extraverted temperam ent and development of alcohol problems.