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Effects of paternal drinking, conduct disorder and childhood home environment on the development of alcohol use disorders in a Thai population
Author(s) -
Assanangkornchai Sawitri,
Geater Alan F.,
Saunders John B.,
McNeil Donald R.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00027.x
Subject(s) - medicine , population , alcohol dependence , alcohol , environmental health , injury prevention , poison control , ethnic group , demography , psychiatry , biochemistry , chemistry , sociology , anthropology
Aims To identify influences on the development of alcohol use disorders in a Thai population, particularly parental drinking and childhood environment. Design Case–control study. Setting A university hospital, a regional hospital and a community hospital in southern Thailand. Participants Ninety‐one alcohol‐dependents and 77 hazardous/harmful drinkers were recruited as cases and 144 non‐ or infrequent drinkers as controls. Measurements Data on parental drinking, family demographic characteristics, family activities, parental disciplinary practice, early religious life and conduct disorder were obtained using a structured interview questionnaire. The main outcome measure was the subject's classification as alcohol‐dependent, hazardous/harmful drinker or non‐/infrequent drinker. Findings A significant relationship was found between having a drinking father and the occurrence of hazardous/harmful drinking or alcohol dependence in the subjects. Childhood factors (conduct disorder and having been a temple boy, relative probability ratios, RPRs and 95% CI: 6.39, 2.81–14.55 and 2.21, 1.19–4.08, respectively) also significantly predicted alcohol dependence, while perceived poverty and ethnic alienation was reported less frequently by hazardous/harmful drinkers and alcohol‐dependents (RPRs and 95% CIs = 0.34, 0.19–0.62 and 0.59, 0.38–0.93, respectively) than the controls. The relative probability ratio for the effect of the father's infrequent drinking on the son's alcohol dependence was 2.92 (95% CI = 1.42–6.02) and for the father's heavy or dependent drinking 2.84 (95% CI = 1.31–6.15). Conclusions Being exposed to a light‐drinking father increases the risk of a son's alcohol use disorders exhibited either as hazardous–harmful or dependent drinking. However, exposure to a heavy‐ or dependent‐drinking father is associated more uniquely with an increased risk of his son being alcohol‐dependent. The extent to which this is seen in other cultures is worthy of exploration.