title: Parental Separation and Offspring Alcohol Involvement: Findings from Offspring of Alcoholic and Drug Dependent Twin Fathers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We examined associations between parental separation during childhood and offspring alcohol involvement, adjusting for genetic and environmental risks specific to parental alcohol (AD) and cannabis/other illicit drug dependence (DD).
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 1,828 offspring of male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin (VET) Registry, who completed a telephone diagnostic interview. Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted predicting onset of first use, transition from first use to first AD symptom, and transition from first use to AD diagnosis from paternal and avuncular AD and DD history, parental separation, and offspring and family background characteristics. Paternal/avuncular DD/AD was based on the DSM-III-R; offspring and maternal AD were based on DSM-IV criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Paternal DD/AD predicted increased offspring risk for all transitions, with genetic effects suggested on rate of transitioning to AD diagnosis. Parental separation was predictive of increased risk for early alcohol use, but a reduced rate of transition to both AD symptom onset and onset of AD. No interactions between separation and familial risk (indexed by paternal or avuncular DD/AD) were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings highlight the contribution of both parental separation and paternal substance dependence in predicting timing of offspring alcohol initiation and problems across adolescence into early adulthood.
authors.affiliation: Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Julia D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.|Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology, Indiana University School of Education, Bloomington, Indiana.
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Waldron
authors.affiliation: Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.|Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Carolyn E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Sartor
authors.affiliation: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Jeffrey F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Scherrer
authors.affiliation: Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.|George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Alexis E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.affiliation: Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Vivia V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: McCutcheon
authors.affiliation: Palo Alto Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
authors.forename: Jon Randolph
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Haber
authors.affiliation: Palo Alto Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Palo Alto, California.
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.affiliation: Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Heath
authors.affiliation: Midwest Alcoholism Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Kathleen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Bucholz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D000066608:Underage Drinking / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol Involvement; Offspring of Twins; Parental Alcohol Dependence; Parental Drug Dependence; Parental Separation or Divorce