Behavioral symptoms and psychiatric diagnoses among 162 children in nonalcoholic or alcoholic families

Objective: People with alcoholic relatives have high rates of alcohol abuse and dependence as adults, but their patterns of problems earlier in life a re less clear. Many studies have not controlled for parental disorders othe r than alcoholism or for parents' socioeconomic status and general life fun ctioning. The authors' goal was to conduct a study controlling for such fac tors. Method: Personal structured interviews and a behavioral checklist were admi nistered to the parents of 162 children 7 years old or older whose fathers had participated in the 15-year follow-up of 453 sons of alcoholics with no history of antisocial personality disorder and sons of nonalcoholic compar ison subjects originally selected from a university population. Results: There was no significant relationship between a family history of alcoholism and childhood diagnoses of conduct, oppositional, or attention d eficit disorders or with behavioral checklist summary scores. However, chil dren with alcoholic relatives apparently have a slightly higher risk for dr ug abuse or dependence than those without alcoholic relatives. Conclusions: Once familial antisocial disorders and familial socioeconomic status are controlled for, a family history of alcoholism does not appear t o relate to childhood externalizing disorders.