Psychiatric diagnoses among Mission Indian children with and without a parental history of alcohol dependence.
OBJECTIVE
The primary goal was to determine whether Mission Indian children of alcoholics (COAs) have higher rates of psychiatric disorders than Mission Indian non-COAs. A secondary goal was to explore associations of other familial variables with rates of childhood psychiatric disorders.


METHODS
Psychiatric diagnoses were obtained from the primary caregiver, using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA), for 117 (63 female) Mission Indian children; 81 of the children were interviewed directly. Of the 117 subjects, 92 (79%) were COAs and 25 (21%) were not.


RESULTS
There were no differences in rates of psychiatric disorders between COAs and non-COAs. Living in a household without a mother was associated with a higher rate of separation anxiety disorder, and living in a household without a father was associated with a higher rate of both oppositional defiant disorder and separation anxiety disorder.


CONCLUSIONS
Parental alcohol dependence does not appear to relate to increased psychopathology among Mission Indian children, but living in a single parent household may be associated with increased rates of some psychiatric disorders.
Gilder
David A
DA
Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Wall
Tamara L
TL
Ehlers
Cindy L
CL
D000293:Adolescent; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000523:psychology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*