Effects of paternal drinking, conduct disorder and childhood home environment on the development of alcohol use disorders in a Thai population.
OBJECTIVE
To identify influences on the development of alcohol use disorders in a Thai population, particularly parental drinking and childhood environment.


METHODS
Case-control study.


METHODS
A university hospital, a regional hospital and a community hospital in southern Thailand.


METHODS
Ninety-one alcohol-dependents and 77 hazardous/harmful drinkers were recruited as cases and 144 non- or infrequent drinkers as controls.


METHODS
Data on parental drinking, family demographic characteristics, family activities, parental disciplinary practice, early religious life and conduct disorder were obtained using a structured interview questionnaire. The main outcome measure was the subject's classification as alcohol-dependent, hazardous/harmful drinker or non-/infrequent drinker.


RESULTS
A significant relationship was found between having a drinking father and the occurrence of hazardous/harmful drinking or alcohol dependence in the subjects. Childhood factors (conduct disorder and having been a temple boy, relative probability ratios, RPRs and 95% CI: 6.39, 2.81-14.55 and 2.21, 1.19-4.08, respectively) also significantly predicted alcohol dependence, while perceived poverty and ethnic alienation was reported less frequently by hazardous/harmful drinkers and alcohol-dependents (RPRs and 95% CIs=0.34, 0.19-0.62 and 0.59, 0.38-0.93, respectively) than the controls. The relative probability ratio for the effect of the father's infrequent drinking on the son's alcohol dependence was 2.92 (95% CI=1.42-6.02) and for the father's heavy or dependent drinking 2.84 (95% CI=1.31-6.15).


CONCLUSIONS
Being exposed to a light-drinking father increases the risk of a son's alcohol use disorders exhibited either as hazardous-harmful or dependent drinking. However, exposure to a heavy- or dependent-drinking father is associated more uniquely with an increased risk of his son being alcohol-dependent. The extent to which this is seen in other cultures is worthy of exploration.
Assanangkornchai
Sawitri
S
Department of Psychiatry andEpidemiology Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, HatYai, Songkhla, Thailand. asawitri@ratree.psu.ac.th
Geater
Alan F
AF
Saunders
John B
JB
McNeil
Donald R
DR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000209:etiology*; D002016:Buddhism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002668:Child Rearing; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000150:complications*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005220:Fathers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010332:Paternal Behavior; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013785:Thailand