ABSTRACT
This paper discusses how genetic factors contribute to the familial nature of alcoholism. The importance of a genetic component to this disorder is supported by the fourfold increased risk for severe alcohol problems in close relatives of alcoholics, the high risk for identical twins of alcoholics, and the documentation of a high level of vulnerability among adopted-out children of alcoholics. Studies are now underway attempting to identify biologic factors that interact with the environment to produce the alcoholism risk. Among the leads is the documentation that sons and daughters of alcohol-dependent parents show a decreased intensity of reaction to modest doses of alcohol. The implications of these findings to the prevention and treatment of alcoholism are discussed.
