Intellectual, cognitive, and academic performance among sons of alcoholicsduring the early school years: Differences related to subtypes of familialalcoholism

Background: Research on intellectual and cognitive functioning of children of alcoholics has been marked by inconsistency, with some studies unable to document deficits. This discrepancy may reflect the substantial heterogene ity found in the alcoholic population and among families of alcoholics. The current study sought to examine the effects of familial alcoholism subtype s on intellectual, cognitive, and academic performance in early school-aged sons of alcoholics. Methods: Subjects for the present study were 198 elementary-age boys who we re participants in the larger MSU-UM Longitudinal Study. Familial alcoholis m subtypes were determined based on fathers' alcoholism and antisocial pers onality disorder diagnoses. Intellectual functioning was measured with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R); academic achieve ment was measured with the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised. In addition , Mazes and Freedom from Distractability factor scores of the WISC-R were u sed to assess abstract planning and attention abilities. Results: Children of antisocial alcoholics (AALs) displayed the worst IQ an d academic achievement compared with children of nonantisocial alcoholics ( NAALs) and controls. In addition, children of AALs displayed relatively poo rer abstract planning and attention abilities compared with children from c ontrol families. Regression analyses revealed that familial alcoholism subt ype continued to account for variance in child intellectual ability even wh en other factors were excluded. Conclusions: Findings indicate that children from AAL families are most sus ceptible to relative intellectual, cognitive, and academic deficits. The st udy further supports the proposition that familial risk characteristics (i. e., paternal alcoholism and antisociality) may serve as effective indicator s of family risk for poor intellectual outcome among offspring as early as the elementary school years.