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Neuropsychological Differences between Male Familial and Nonfamilial Alcoholics and Nonalcoholics
Author(s) -
Schaeffer Kim Walter,
Parsons Oscar A.,
Yohman J. Robert
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1984.tb05678.x
Subject(s) - neuropsychology , psychology , cognition , developmental psychology , perception , neuropsychological test , audiology , clinical psychology , cognitive psychology , psychiatry , medicine , neuroscience
The hypothesis was tested that neuropsychological differences exist between males who have an alcoholic parent, sister, or brother (FH+) versus those who do not (FH‐). Neuropsychological tests measuring verbal, learning/memory, abstracting/problem solving, and perceptual‐motor performance were given to four groups of middle‐aged subjects: alcoholic FH+ ( n = 41); alcoholic FH‐ ( n = 27); nonalcoholic FH+ ( n = 19); and nonalcoholic FH‐ ( n = 43). FH+ subjects performed significantly poorer than FH‐ subjects on the abstracting/ problem solving and perceptual‐motor tasks, and approached significance on the verbal and teaming/memory measures. Alcoholics performed more poorly than nonalcoholics on abstracting/problem solving and learning/memory tasks. There were no groups by family history significant interactions. From these results we suggest (1) a performance deficit in abstracting/problem solving and possibly learning/memory may antedate the alcoholic stage in FH+ individuals; (2) alcoholism and positive famiry history of alcoholism have independent, additive deleterious effects on cognitive‐perceptual functioning; and (3) future neuropsychological studies of alcoholism should consider the frequency of FH+ and FH‐ individuals in both alcoholic and control groups.