The children were grouped according to their family history of alcoholism (FH) and depressive symptoms (DEP). Mothers completed the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test to screen for life-time alcohol-related problems and alcoholism [32] and the family history assessment module of the Structured Assessment of the Genetics of Alcohol for every biological member up to second-degree relatives for both maternal and paternal sides of the child's family [33,34]. Because categorizing FH based on only first-degree relatives is too narrow a criterion [35,36], we grouped children who had a first- or second-degree relative with a life-time diagnosis of DSM-III alcohol dependence as having a positive FH (FHP), and those who did not have any relatives in the two generations with current or previous alcohol dependence as having a negative FH (FHN).
