Differences and similarities in development of drinking behavior between alcoholic offspring of alcoholics and alcoholic offspring of non-alcoholics.

Self-reported initial, early, and long-term drinking behaviors, experiences, and consequences were obtained from male alcoholics completing inpatient treatment. Subjects were recruited and selected on the basis that they met DSM-III criteria for diagnosis of alcohol dependency and that their biological fathers were alcoholic (FHP; Family History Positive) or that they had no biological family history of alcoholism (FHN; Family History Negative). Results indicated that FHP subjects rated their initial taste of beer higher than FHN subjects, that FHP subjects began tasting and subsequently regularly drinking alcohol at an earlier age than FHN subjects and that there was significantly shorter elapsed time between initiating regular drinking and developing alcoholic-symptomatic problems in living among FHP alcoholics than FHN alcoholics. Although there were a few other significant differences, the drinking-behavioral histories of the two groups were remarkably similar and parallel. Taken together, results suggest that familial risk factors primarily influence the rate at which alcoholic drinking and alcoholism develop, rather than the form or pattern of alcoholic drinking.