Risk of mental disorders in children of parents with alcohol or heroin dependence: a controlled high-risk study.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the specific effect of alcohol dependence (AD) or heroin dependence (HD) in patients and their spouses on the risk of psychopathology in their 276 6.0- to 17.9- year-old children (mean 11.3 years).


METHODS
The sample included 101 offspring of patients with AD, 23 of patients with HD, and 152 of medical controls, as well as their 2 parents. Participants were assessed using semistructured diagnostic interviews and family history reports by psychologists blind to patient diagnoses.


RESULTS
Children of HD and AD patients had largely elevated rates of recurrent major depressive disorder. Children of HD patients were also at an increased risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and substance use disorders (SUD). There were interactions between SUD in the 2 parents to increase the risk of SUD in offspring.


CONCLUSIONS
These results emphasize the need for prompt identification and treatment of these children and highlight the need to pay clinical attention not only to the patient, but also to the co-parent in order to optimize prevention in offspring.
Department of Mental Health and Psychiatry, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. sonia.vidal@chuv.ch
Sonia I
SI
Vidal
Caroline
C
Vandeleur
Stéphane
S
Rothen
Mehdi
M
Gholam-Rezaee
Enrique
E
Castelao
Olivier
O
Halfon
Jean-Michel
JM
Aubry
François
F
Ferrero
Martin
M
Preisig
D000293:Adolescent; D000437:Alcoholism; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology