title: The predictive power of family history measures of alcohol and drug problems and internalizing disorders in a college population.
abstract: A family history (FH) of psychiatric and substance use problems is a potent risk factor for common internalizing and externalizing disorders. In a large web-based assessment of mental health in college students, we developed a brief set of screening questions for a FH of alcohol problems (AP), drug problems (DP) and depression-anxiety in four classes of relatives (father, mother, aunts/uncles/grandparents, and siblings) as reported by the student. Positive reports of a history of AP, DP, and depression-anxiety were substantially correlated within relatives. These FH measures predicted in the student, in an expected pattern, dimensions of personality and impulsivity, alcohol consumption and problems, smoking and nicotine dependence, use of illicit drugs, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Using the mean score from the four classes of relatives was more predictive than using a familial/sporadic dichotomy. Interactions were seen between the FH of AP, DP, and depression-anxiety and peer deviance in predicting symptoms of alcohol and tobacco dependence. As the students aged, the FH of AP became a stronger predictor of alcohol problems. While we cannot directly assess the validity of these FH reports, the pattern of findings suggest that our brief screening items were able to assess, with some accuracy, the FH of substance misuse and internalizing psychiatric disorders in relatives. If correct, these measures can play an important role in the creation of developmental etiologic models for substance and internalizing psychiatric disorders which constitute one of the central goals of the overall project.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.
authors.forename: Kenneth S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Kendler
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.
authors.forename: Seung Bin
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adkins
authors.affiliation: Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Psychiatry, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, Richmond, Virginia.|Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dick
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014495:Universities
keywords: alcohol; college students; family history; illicit drugs; tobacco