Childhood problems of alcoholic women.
A sample of three hundred and nine alcoholic and non-alcoholic women in South Carolina were asked three family-of-origin questions that were thought to relate to the development of alcoholism. Specifically the women were asked: "While you were growing up did anyone in your family: (1) drink a lot? (2) use drugs? or (3) serve a jail sentence?" Results of multivariate odds ratio analyses indicate that alcoholic women were 7.31 times more likely to indicate a family member who drank a lot, 3.57 times more likely to report a family member who used drugs, and 5.6 times more likely to report a family member who served a jail sentence in their families of origin. The prediction of alcoholism by any of these family of origin variables did not differ as a function of age or race. These data suggest that policy makers may contribute to improved outcome measures by providing attention to children passing through these difficulties.
Michels
P J
PJ
Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia 29208, USA.
Johnson
N P
NP
Codd
R T
RT
Mallin
R
R
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D003710:Demography; D005192:Family Health; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors; D013022:South Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology