title: Correlates of early- and late-onset alcohol dependence.
abstract: The present study aimed at finding out demographic, clinical, personality, and behavioural correlates of age at onset of alcohol dependence. Fifty-one male patients of alcohol dependence (DSM-III-R, APA, 1987) attending the drug de-addiction clinic of a general teaching hospital in India comprised the sample. They were administered a composite socio-demographic and alcohol use proforma, modified Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS), Multiphasic Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), and a checklist of behavioural tendencies when drinking. The early-onset alcoholics (age at onset of alcohol dependence 25 years or less) were younger. They had a larger proportion of first-degree relatives with both lifetime use and abuse/dependence of alcohol but not of other psychoactive substances. They had experienced a greater number of alcohol-related problems in the previous 1 year. They were also higher sensation seekers, higher on the Psychopathic deviate scale of MPQ, and tended to display aggression, violence, and general disinhibition when drinking. The late-onset alcoholics (age at onset of alcohol dependence more than 25 years) were anxiety-prone and guilt-ridden, and had less alcohol-related problems. The two groups were comparable on duration, frequently, and quantity of alcohol consumption. The findings are discussed in relation to some of the recently proposed typologies of alcoholism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh, India.
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Varma
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Basu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Mattoo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000431:Ethanol; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol