The finding of increased odds of mania in daughters as compared to sons of alcoholic mothers and sons as compared to daughters of alcoholic fathers – compared to the opposite gender offspring - has not been previously reported to our knowledge, and additional research is required to explain what may mediate these findings. However, gender differences in the relationship between co-occurring alcoholism and bipolar disorder have previously been found (Helzer and Pryzbeck, 1988; Kessler et al., 1997; Regier et al., 1990), and some of these differences may relate to family history of alcoholism (Frye et al., 2003). Furthermore, Todd et al. (1996) (Todd et al., 1996) found in a study of families of children with major depression or bipolar disorder that maternal mood disorders and alcoholism were independently transmitted – i.e., maternal alcoholism itself did not increase the risk of mood disorders including bipolar disorder. Hence, the increased odds of mania in daughters of alcoholic mothers here is particularly noteworthy.
