Abstract
The etiology of alcoholism in women is no longer a question of nature or nurture. Most observers would agree that alcoholism, both male and female, is mediated by genetic factors. The question is how much of the variance is explained by genetic factors and to what degree is this genetically mediated disorder moderated by personal characteristics of the woman. Among the most salient personal characteristics moderating the genetic vulnerability may be factors such as age, ethnicity, and presence of psychiatric comorbidity. Cultural factors and familial environmental factors are most likely predictors as well. Therefore, the chapter will discuss the genetic epidemiology of alcoholism in women.
Genetic heterogeneity will be discussed and evidence presented that suggests the existence of two forms of alcoholism in women: one more environmentally determined and one more influenced by genetic mediation. Evidence for the existence of a genetic diathesis in women will be presented, noting extant literature involving twin and adoption designs. Suggestions for what might be transmitted from generation to generation (e.g., neurobiological factors, temperament) with special reference to preadolescent and adolescent girls will also be discussed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hill SY: Etiology, in McCrady B and Frankenstein W (eds.): Annual Review of Addiction Research and Treatment, vol. 3. New York, Pergamon Press, 1994, pp 127–148.
Kessler RC, McGonagle KA, Zhao S, et al: Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders in the United States. Arch Gen Psychiatry 51:8–19, 1994.
Rounsaville BJ, Dolinsky ZS, Babor TF, et al: Psychopathology as a predictor of treatment outcome in alcoholics. Arch Gen Psychiatry 44:505–513, 1987.
Schuckit MA, Winokur G: A short-term follow-up of women alcoholics. Dis Nerv Syst 33:572–578, 1972.
Murray RM, Clifford CA, Gurling HMD: Twin and adoption studies: How good is the evidence for a genetic role? in Galanter M (ed): Recent Developments in Alcoholism, vol. 1. New York, Plenum Press, 1983, pp 25–48.
Peele S: Implications and limitations of genetic models of alcoholism and other addictions. Gen Stud Alcohol 47:63–73, 1986.
Wilsnack RW, Wilsnack SC, Klassen AD: Women’s drinking and drinking problems: Patterns from a 1981 national survey. Am J Public Health 74:1231–1238, 1984.
Robins LN, HeIzer J, Weissman MN, et al: Lifetime prevalence of specific psychiatric disorders in three sites. Arch Gen Psychiatry 41:949–958, 1984.
Cloninger CR, Bohman M, Sigvardsson S: Inheritance of alcohol abuse: Cross-fostering analysis of adopted men. Arch Gen Psychiatry 38:861–868, 1981.
Hill SY: Absence of paternal sociopathy in the etiology of severe alcoholism: Is there a type III alcoholism? J Stud Alcohol 53:161–169, 1992.
Glenn SW, Nixon SJ: Applications of Cloninger’s subtypes in a female alcoholic sample. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 15:851–857, 1991.
Lex BW, Sholar JW, Bower T, et al: Putative type II alcoholism characteristics in female third DUI offenders in Massachusetts: A pilot study. Alcohol 8:283–287, 1991.
Cloninger CR, Christiansen KO, Reich T, et al: Implications of sex differences in the prevalences of antisocial personality, alcoholism, and criminality for familial transmission. Arch Gen Psychiatry 35:941–951, 1978.
Gilligan SB, Reich T, Cloninger CR: Etiologic heterogeneity in alcoholism. Genet Epidemiol 4:395–414, 1987.
Aston CE, Hill SY: Segregation analysis of alcoholism in families ascertained through a pair of male alcoholics. Am J Hum Genet 46:879–887, 1990.
Merikangas KR, Leckman JF, Prusoff BA, et al: Familial transmission of depression and alcoholism. Arch Gen Psychiatry 42:367–372, 1985.
Goodwin DW, Schulsinger F, Hermansen L, et al: Alcohol problems in adoptees raised apart from alcoholic biological parents. Arch Gen Psychiatry 28:238–243, 1973.
Hill SY, Smith TR: Evidence for genetic mediation of alcoholism in women. J Subst Abuse 3:159–174, 1991.
Hill SY: Genetic vulnerability to alcoholism in women, in Gomberg E, Nirenberg TD (eds): Women and Substance Abuse. Norwood, NJ, Ablex Publishing, 1993, pp 42–61.
Bohman M, Sigvardsson S, Cloninger CR: Maternal inheritance of alcohol abuse: Cross-fostering analysis of adopted women. Arch Gen Psychiatry 38:965–969, 1981.
Goodwin DW, Schulsinger F, Knop J, et al: Alcoholism and depression in adopted-out daughters of alcoholics. Arch Gen Psychiatry 34:751–755, 1977.
Cadoret RJ, O’Gorman TW, Troughton E, et al: Alcoholism and antisocial personality: Inter-relationships, genetic and environmental factors. Arch Gen Psychiatry 42:161–167, 1985.
Heath AC, Jardine R, Martin NG: Interactive effects of genotype and social environment on alcohol consumption in female twins. J Stud Alcohol 50:38–48, 1989.
Gurling HMD, Murray RM, Clifford CA: Investigations into the genetics of alcohol dependence and into its effects on brain function, in Gedda L, Parisi P, Nance, WE (eds): Twin Research 3: Epidemiologicaland Clinical Studies. New York, AlanR. Liss, 1981, pp 77–87.
McGue M, Pickens RW, Svikis DS: Sex and age effects on the inheritance of alcohol problems: A twin study. J Abnorm Psychol 101:3–17, 1992.
Pickens RW, Svikis DS, McGue M, et al: Heterogeneity in the inheritance of alcoholism: A study of male and female twins. Arch Gen Psychiatry 48:19–28, 1991.
Pickens RW, Svikis DS: The twin method in the study of vulnerability to drug abuse, in Biological Vulnerability to Drug Abuse, Research Monograph vol. 89, 1988, pp 41–51.
Kendler KS, Heath AC, Neale MC, et al: A population-based twin study of alcoholism in women. JAMA 268:1877–1882, 1992.
Hill SY: Familial risk for alcoholism in women: Is P300 a marker? ProcAm College Neuropharmacol 39, 1993.
Hill SY: A vulnerability model for alcoholism in women. Focus on Women: J Addict Health 2:68–91, 1981.
Hill SY: Biological consequences of alcoholism and alcohol-related problems among women, in Alcohol and Health Monograph No. 4, Special Population Issues. (DHHS Pub. No. [ADM] 82-1193), Rockville, Maryland, US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1982.
Hill SY: Addiction liability of Tryon rats: Independent transmission of morphine and alcohol consumption. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 9:107–110, 1978.
Frezza M, di Padova C, Pozzato G, et al: High blood alcohol levels in women. The role of decreased gastric alcohol dehydrogenase activity and first-pass metabolism. N Engl J Med 322:95–99, 1990.
Hill SY, Steinhauer SR, Zubin J, et al: Event-related potentials as markers for alcoholism risk in high density families. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 12:545–554, 1988.
Hill SY, Steinhauer SR: Event-related potentials in women at risk for alcoholism. Alcohol 10:349–354, 1993.
Hill SY, Steinhauer SR, Park J, et al: Event-related potential characteristics in children of alcoholics from high density families. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 14:6–16, 1990. (Reprinted in Annu Rev Addict Res Treat 1:177–192, 1992.)
Hill SY, Steinhauer SR: Assessment of prepubertal and postpubertal boys and girls at risk for developing alcoholism with P300 from a visual discrimination task. J Stud Alcohol 54:350–358, 1993.
Steinhauer SR, Hill SY: Auditory event-related potentials in children at high risk for alcoholism. J Stud Alcohol 54:408–421, 1993.
Hill SY, Steinhauer SR, Zubin J: Cardiac responsivity in individuals at high risk for alcoholism. J Stud Alcohol 53:378–388, 1992.
Hill SY, Armstrong J, Steinhauer SR, et al: Static ataxia as a psychobiological marker for alcoholism. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 4:345–348, 1987.
Hill SY, Steinhauer SR: Postural sway in children from pedigrees exhibiting a high density of alcoholism. Biol Psychiatry 33:313–325, 1993.
Sutton S, Braren M, John ER, et al: Evoked potential correlates of stimulus uncertainty. Science 150:1187–1 188, 1965.
Donchin E: Event-related potentials: A tool in the study of human in formation processing, in Begleiter H (ed): Evoked Brain Potentials and Behavior. New York, Plenum Press, 1979, pp 13–88.
Bock F: Pupillary dilation and vertex evoked potential similarity in monozygotic and dizygotic twins and siblings. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, City University of New York, 1976.
Surwillo WW: Cortical evoked potentials in monozygotic twins and unrelated subjects: Comparisons of exogenous and endogenous components. Behav Genet 10:201–209, 1980.
Polich J, Burns T: P300 from identical twins. Neuropsychologia 25:299–304, 1987.
Aston CE, Hill SY: A segregation analysis of the P300 component of the event-related potential. Am J Hum Genet 47(Suppl):A127, 1990.
Rogers TD, Deary I: The P300 component of the auditory event-related potential in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Acta Psychiatr Scand 83:412–416, 1991.
Aston C, Hill SY: Segregation analysis of alcoholism in families ascertained through a pair of male alcoholics. Am J Hum Genet 47:A127, 1990.
Begleiter H, Porjesz B, Bihari B, et al: Event-related brain potentials in boys at risk for alcoholism. Science 225:1493–1496, 1984.
Whipple S, Parker ES, Noble EP: An atypical neurocognitive profile in alcoholic fathers and their sons. J Stud Alcohol 49:240–244, 1988.
Berman SM, Whipple SC, Fitch RJ, et al: P300 in young boys as a predictor of adolescent substance use. Alcohol 10:69–76, 1993.
Polich J, Bloom FE: Event-related brain potentials in individuals at high and low risk for developing alcoholism: Failure to replicate. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 12:368–373, 1988.
Aston CE, Hill SY: Segregation analysis of alcoholism in families ascertained through a pair of male alcoholics. Am J Hum Genet 46:879–887, 1990.
Steinhauer SR, Hill SY, Zubin J: Event-related potentials in alcoholics and their first-degree relatives. Alcohol 4:307–314, 1987.
Hill SY, Powell BJ: Cocaine and morphine self-administration: Effects of differential reading. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 5:701–704, 1976.
Krech D, Rosenzweig MR, Bennett EL: Effects of environmental complexity and training on brain chemistry. J Comp Physiol Psychol 53:509–519, 1960.
Zuckerman M: Sensation seeking and the endogenous deficit theory of drug abuse. National Institute on Drug Abuse, Research Monograph Series No. 74, 1986, pp 59–70.
Christiansen BA, Smith GT, Roehling PV, et al: Using alcohol expectancies to predict adolescent drinking behavior after one year. J Consult Clin Psychol 57:93–99, 1989.
Miller PM, Smith GT, Goldman MS: Emergence of alcohol expectancies in childhood: A possible critical period. J Stud Alcohol 51:343–349, 1990.
Johnson RC, Nagoshi CT, Danko GP, et al: Familial transmission of alcohol use norms and expectancies and reported alcohol use. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 14:216–220, 1990.
Child IL, Barry H, Bacon MK: A cross-cultural study of drinking: III. Sex differences. Q J Stud Alcohol 3:49–61, 1965.
Heath DB: Women and alcohol: Cross-cultural perspectives. J Subst Abuse 3:175–185, 1991.
Levav I, Kohn R, Dohrenwend BP, et al: An epidemiological study of mental disorders in a 10-year cohort of young adults in Israel. Psychol Med 23:691–707, 1993.
Helzer JE, Canino GJ, Yeh EK, et al: Alcoholism—North America and Asia: A comparison of population surveys with the diagnostic interview schedule. Arch Gen Psychiatry 47:313–319, 1990.
Namkoong K, Lee HY, Lee MH, et al: Cross-cultural study of alcoholism: Comparison between Kangwha, Korea and Yanbian, China. Yonsei Med J 32:319–325, 1991.
Brown GL, Albaugh BJ, Robin RW, et al: Alcoholism and substance abuse among selected Southern Cheyenne Indians. Cult Med Psychiatry 16:531–542, 1993.
Weibel-Orlando J: Women and alcohol: Special populations and cross-cultural variations, in Women and Alcohol: Health Related Issues. Rockville, MD, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1986, pp 161–
Hwu HG, Yeh EK, Yeh YL: Risk factors of alcoholism in Taiwan Chinese: An epidemiological approach. Acta Psychiatr Scand 82:295–298, 1990.
Kawakami N, Haratani T, Hemmi T, et al: Prevalence and demographic correlates of alcohol-related problems in Japanese employees. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 27:198–202, 1992.
Edwards G, Chandler J, Hensman C, et al: Drinking in a London suburb: II. Correlates of trouble with drinking among men. Q J Stud Alcohol [Suppl] 6:94–119, 1972.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hill, S.Y. (2002). Vulnerability to Alcoholism in Women. In: Galanter, M., et al. Recent Developments in Alcoholism. Recent Developments in Alcoholism, vol 12. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47138-8_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47138-8_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-44921-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-306-47138-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive