The etiology of alcoholism: A prospective viewpoint.

Abstract

This article reviews previous prospective studies of alcoholism and then reports multivariate analyses of the data from a new 33-year prospective study of the 456 nondelinquent controls from the Gluecks' delinquency study. The data suggest that presence or absence of South European ethnicity (perhaps as a result of attitudes toward alcohol 1 use and abuse) and the number of alcoholic relatives (perhaps more due to heredity rather than environment) accounted for most of the variance in adult alcoholism explained by childhood variables. Premorbid antisocial behavior also added significantly to the risk of alcoholism. When ethnicity and heredity were controlled, childhood emotional problems and multiproblem family membership explained no additional variance. Thus, the etiological hypotheses that view alcoholism primarily as a symptom of psychological instability may be illusions based on retrospective study.

Drug problems and psychological distress among a community sample of adults: Predictors, consequences, or confound?

“…In contrast, the impaired functioning theory suggests that drug use causes psychological distress (Newcomb & Bentler, 1988a;Vaillant & Milofsky, 1982;Zucker & Gomberg, 1986). It is also possible that the association between drug abuse and psychological distress is spurious and accounted for by a third variable (e.g., Newcomb, 1997a).…”

Common genetic risk factors for conduct disorder and alcohol dependence.

“…Cross-sectional epidemiological surveys (e.g., Kessler et al, 1996) have shown that the onset of CD usually precedes the onset of AD, and longitudinal studies have confirmed this temporal association (Robins, Bates, & O'Neal, 1962;Vaillant & Milofsky, 1982;Zucker & Gomberg, 1986). The within-twin and familial associations between CD and AD in the present study were similar regardless of whe~er the ageof-onset criterion for CD was less than 18 or less than 15 years, and there was minimal temporal overlap in CD with an onset prior to age 15 and the onset of AD (or heavy alcohol use).…”

Substance misuse: aspects of treatment and service provision

“…Earlier this century the symptomaticmodelwas prevalent, which holds that substance misuse is symptomatic of a primary mental disorder and that the rational treatment, therefore, is insightorientated psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy of the causal mental disorder. Vaillant & Milofsky (1982),from their own study and a critical review of the literature, however, concluded that:…”