Reaction to alcohol as a predictor of alcoholism.

This paper describes an 8- to 12-year follow-up of 454 men originally studied at age 20. The sample consists of matched pairs of drinking (but not alcohol dependent) men, half of whom have an alcoholic biological father and half of whom are controls. When originally studied in their early 20s, approximately 40% of the sons of alcoholics demonstrated significantly less intense reactions to alcohol than controls as measured by subjective feelings, motor performance changes, electrophysiological measures, and hormonal changes. All 454 subjects have been located for follow-up evaluations which include interviews with themselves and their spouses, as well as evaluations of blood markers of heavy drinking and urine drug toxicology screens. Data from the more than 250 men who have been evaluated to-date demonstrate that the decreased reaction to alcohol at Time 1 appears to be a potent predictor of alcoholism at follow-up.