FAMILIAL RESEMBLANCE OF ALCOHOL-CONSUMPTION LEVELS IN JEWISH FAMILIES

The role of genetic and environmental factors determining the variabil ity in alcohol consumption levels was investigated in 68 families asce rtained through heroin-dependent Jewish male probands. Sibling correla tions for peak weekly alcohol consumption ranged from 0.22 to 0.32, wi th limited changes on adjustment for sex, age and environmental variab les. The parent-child correlations were relatively low. Segregation an alysis indicated that a major effect of a non-transmitted environmenta l factor explained the mixture of distributions. There was no evidence for a polygenic effect on alcohol consumption in the families. When s egregation models were fitted to sex, age and environment-adjusted alc ohol levels, the mixed environment model was rejected, whereas the mix ed genetic model was not. These findings are consistent with two previ ously published segregation analyses of alcohol dependence, and furthe r highlight the heterogeneous aetiology and transmission of alcohol co nsumption and alcohol dependence.