If older family members with lifetime AUD are abstinent as younger family members are developing alcohol problems, it is possible that younger members, if they recognize severe problems in themselves, may look to older members for direction or example, or that older members may recognize problems in younger members and intervene. In fact, analysis of twin data showed that the variance associated with treatment-seeking for alcohol problems was primarily accounted for by familial influences, with 41% of the variance due to genetics, 40% due to shared environment, and just 19% to unique environment (57). In the current study, all probands had by definition been treated, which precluded examination of familial associations for treatment-seeking; however, abstinent relatives had the highest rates of treatment-seeking in the sample, suggesting an association of relatives’ with probands’ treatment-seeking.
