The reanalysis reviewed here has confirmed the consistency of the evidence for an important genetic influence on alcoholism risk from both twin and adoption studies. The genetic influence on alcoholism in women appears as strong as that in men. Many studies that followed children of alcoholics prospectively to identify precursors of alcoholism risk have focused on sons of alcoholics, assuming a stronger genetic influence in men than in women (for further discussion of markers, see the article by Anthenelli and Tabakoff, pp. 176–181). This assumption does not appear to be supported by the data, at least for the definitions of alcoholism analyzed here.
