Assessment of genetic predisposition to alcoholism in male alcoholics

Association between the history of alcoholism in different relatives with the development of alcoholism in male probands was analysed using the rate of development of alcoholism as a marker of genetic predisposition. It was found that a history of alcoholism in parents, grandparents and siblings of parents was associated with an accelerated rate in the development of alcoholism while a history of alcoholism in siblings and children of probands was not. The rate of development of alcoholism was positively associated with the number of generations of the proband's family in which alcoholism occurred.