Alcohol use disorders in relatives of patients with panic disorder.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to use data from a family study of anxiety disorders to examine the familial association between alcohol use disorders and panic disorder (PD), controlling for alcohol use disorders in the proband.


METHODS
Data from a family study of anxiety disorders were used to compare rates of alcohol use disorders in the relatives of 3 proband groups (PD with lifetime alcohol use disorders, PD without lifetime alcohol use disorders, and not-ill controls).


RESULTS
There was a significantly higher rate (12%) of alcohol use disorders among the relatives of PD probands compared with relatives of controls (5%), even in the absence of alcohol use disorders in the proband and after adjusting for differences in sociodemographic characteristics and lifetime drug use disorders (chi2 = 5.4; df = 1; P = .02). Anxiety symptoms were more frequent among the male relatives of panic probands who received an alcohol diagnosis, compared with those who did not have alcohol use disorders (10/25 vs 22/111; chi2 = 4.6; df = 1; P = .03). A similar pattern was found in women (8/11 vs 63/156; chi2 = 4.4; df = 1; P = .036).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest a familial association between PD and alcohol use disorders. Future studies with more refined alcohol diagnoses are needed to replicate and investigate the mechanism of this association.
Anxiety Genetics Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA. rdg66@columbia.edu
Renee D
RD
Goodwin
Joshua D
JD
Lipsitz
Tim F
TF
Chapman
Salvatore
S
Mannuzza
Donald F
DF
Klein
Abby J
AJ
Fyer
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*