Citation

Smith EM, Przybeck TR, Bradford SE, Gogineni A, Spitznagel EL. Alcohol Clin. Exp. Res. 1994; 18(6): 1354-1360.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1994, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

7695030

Abstract

Eighteen years after their mothers had been hospitalized for alcoholism, adult offspring were asked if any of their 1st-degree relatives had ever had a drinking problem. Proband and informant characteristics that affect the validity of reports of maternal drinking problems given by adult offspring of alcoholic women were identified. A history of alcohol-related medical problems in the mother was associated with reporting maternal alcoholism. Being African-American, having a history of suicide attempts in the mother, and having a good maternal posttreatment outcome were associated with false-negative reports. Adding multiple offspring informants increased sensitivity to 86%. Female alcoholic offspring tended to underreport maternal alcoholism.

Language: en