Alcoholism and affective disorder

From January to November 1980, 421 consecutive new patient admissions to a large alcohol treatment facility were interviewed and diagnosed using the Affective Disorder Section of the Research Diagnostic Criteria. The patient population was divided into two groups based on the presence of an affective disorder diagnosis. The groups identified at the highest risk for concurrent affective disorder among alcoholic inpatients were females ages 20 through 30 and not presently married individuals. Implications of these findings are further discussed.