The high-risk families were identified through a proband pair of alcohol dependent sisters. One member of the proband pair was in a substance abuse treatment facility in the Pittsburgh area at the time of recruitment. Determination that this individual had a sibling similarly affected with alcohol dependence was made using structured screening instruments. Both members of the proband pair were screened using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) (Robins et al., 1981) to determine the presence of alcohol dependence (AD) and other Axis I (DSM-III) psychopathology (Feighner Criteria [Feighner et al 1972]). Each multiplex family required the screening of approximately 100 families to meet the present goals, and for the broader goals of family studies ongoing in our laboratory that include a search for developmental neurobiological markers (Hill et al., 2009a,b) and gene finding efforts (Hill et al., 2004).
