Abstract
The distribution of alcoholism and other patterns of alcohol use in the ancestors of 242 alcoholic probands was evaluated by the family history method. Associations in drinking style were found among family members, particularly those of the same sex and generation. Assortative mating for drinking patterns was indicated by interparent correlations which were higher than those found between each parent and the spouse's samesex sibling. Alcoholic probands with two problem-drinking parents were found to have a low percentage of moderate-drinking siblings but a high frequency of those who either were abstinent or were problem drinkers.
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This research was supported in part by NIAAA Grant #1-P50-AA-03510-01A1 and by NIAAA Grant #1-T32-AA-07290-01A1
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Hall, R.L., Hesselbrock, V.M. & Stabenau, J.R. Familial distribution of alcohol use: I. Assortative mating in the parents of alcoholics. Behav Genet 13, 361–372 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065774
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01065774