Citation

Parker DA, Harford TC. J. Stud. Alcohol 1987; 48(3): 265-268.

Affiliation

Division of Biometry and Epidemiology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1987, Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3657169

Abstract

Alcohol-related problems that are experienced by sons and daughters of heavy-drinking parents (either father or mother) are examined using data from a 1978 household sample of employed adults in metropolitan Detroit. Adult children with heavy-drinking parents were found to have a higher percentage of dependent problem drinking than those without heavy-drinking parents. Also, adult children with low status (blue-collar) occupations were found to have a higher percentage of dependent problem drinking than those with high status (white-collar) occupations. Although it was not possible to disentangle the genetic processes from the social processes in this study, the results support the hypothesis that having both heavy-drinking parents and low occupational status places sons and daughters at elevated risk for alcohol-related problems. Implications for future epidemiological studies are discussed.

Language: en