The offspring from these families with multiple cases of alcohol dependence were found to be at increased risk for several psychiatric disorders (ADHD, CD, ODD, MDD, and Drug Abuse/Dependence), especially Conduct Disorder (21.4%) and MDD (14.8 %). The present results confirm previous studies (Earls et al., 1988; Hussong et al., 1988; Reich et al., 1993; Hill and Muka, 1996; Hill et al., 1999a; Kuperman et al., 1999; Merikangas and Avenoli, 2000; Hill et al., 2000; Ohanessian et al., 2004) showing that high-risk offspring of alcoholic parents are at elevated risk for CD, ODD, ADHD, and substance use disorders, or externalizing disorders. However, the present results show higher rates than those reported in other studies (Hussong et al., 1988; Merikangas et al., 1998; Kuperman et al., 1999; Clark et al., 2004). As one comparison, a Pittsburgh sample (Clark et al., 2004) of unselected offspring of substance use disorder parents found rates of 2.4% for CD and 2.3% for MDD. The most obvious difference in the two samples is the greater familial/genetic loading for alcohol dependence in our multiplex families.
