Abstract
The high prevalence of comorbid psychiatric disorders among patients with substance dependence both confuses diagnosis and complicates treatment. One way of separating substance dependence and comorbid conditions is to use the family, rather than the individual, as the unit of study. Results from family, twin, and adoption studies indicate the existence of a heritable and specific liability to alcohol dependence independent of other psychiatric disease, and perhaps to other substance dependence, as well. However, substance dependence, like many other psychiatric disorders, is a clinically and etiologically heterogeneous entity, which both complicates patterns of familial transmission and underlines the need for more precise description of subforms of illness.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 17-27 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Journal of Addictive Diseases |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 13 1993 |
Funding
Stephen H. Dinwiddie is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine and Jewish Hospital of St. Louis. Theodore Reich is Professor of Psychiatry and Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine and Jewish Hospital of St. Louis. This paper was supported by grant number MH46276, AA08401 and AA08403 (Dr. Dinwiddie) and MH46280, MH45522 and MH31302 (Dr. Reich). Reprint requests should be addressed to Dr. Stephen H. Dinwiddie, Department of Psychiatry, Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, 216 S. Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO 63110.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Clinical Psychology
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
