The lifetime risk of alcoholism is lower in women than in men, but few studies have examined the risk of alcoholism in sons and daughters conditional on an alcohol-related diagnosis in either parent. An adoption study of 913 Swedish women showed a 3-fold increase in alcohol abuse among adopted daughters of alcoholic biological mothers (Bohman et al., 1981). In support of the hypothesis that genetic factors contribute to the aetiology of alcoholism in women as well as in men, a population-based twin study in women found heritability estimates in the range of 50 to 60% (Kendler et al., 1992). A recent study of the association between early weaning and risk of alcoholism suggested that the risk of alcoholism in offspring of mothers who had been hospitalised with an alcohol-related diagnosis may be higher than the risk in offspring of fathers with an alcohol-related diagnosis (Sorensen et al., 2006).
