Drinking trajectories from adolescence to the fifties among alcohol-dependent men.
OBJECTIVE
Although it has been recognized that the course of alcoholism may differ across individuals, little work has characterized drinking trajectories from drinking onset to midlife.


METHODS
The current study examined trajectories of alcohol dependence from adolescence to the mid-50s in a sample of 420 men with a lifetime diagnosis of alcohol dependence. Men from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry were given the Lifetime Drinking History, which assesses the patterns of alcohol consumption and diagnostic symptoms for self-defined drinking phases. Phase data were converted into person-year data, with alcohol-dependence diagnosis coded as present or absent for each of 13 age groupings, starting with up to age 20 and ending with ages 54-56.


RESULTS
Latent growth mixture modeling was used to define four drinking trajectories: young-adult, late-onset, severe-nonchronic, and severe-chronic alcoholics. Further analyses with other diagnostic variables, other drinking variables, alcohol expectancies, personality scales, and religiousness scores were completed to differentiate men best categorized by each trajectory.


CONCLUSIONS
Extension of Latent Growth Mixture Modeling (LGMM) into the mid-50s revealed that, although some individuals remain chronic alcohol users, others decline in alcohol problem use. Differences seen among these groups may help in the treatment of alcohol dependence, such that more energy can be spent treating those likely to be in the more severe trajectories.
Jacob
Theodore
T
Family Research Center, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA. ttjbocaj@aol.com
Koenig
Laura B
LB
Howell
Donelle N
DN
Wood
Phillip K
PK
Haber
Jon Randolph
JR
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014427:Twins; D055815:Young Adult