Childhood temperament and adult alcohol habits: a prospective longitudinal study from age 4 to age 36.

The purpose of the present study was to relate childhood temperament dimensions at age 4 to alcohol habits until young middle age. Data were derived from the male cohort (n = 122) in a larger prospective longitudinal project. At age 4, a professional psychologist rated the child's behavior on 30 aspects of temperament, which, in turn, were factor-analyzed and cross-validated to other measures of personality at ages 10, 25 and 36.

Psychosocial characteristics at age 10; differentiating between adult alcohol use pathways: a prospective longitudinal study.

The objective of the present study was to relate psychosocial characteristics at age 10 to alcohol use pathways in adulthood up to age 36 using data from the male cohort (n = 122) of a longitudinal study. Psychosocial characteristics at age 10 were measured along five dimensions: parental socioeconomic status, intelligence, ability to concentrate, anxiousness, and school achievement. Subjects whose hazardous alcohol habits were limited to adolescence/early adulthood had parents with a significantly lower socioeconomic status compared to persistently hazardous alcohol consumers.

Type I and Type II Alcoholism: An Update.

A commonly cited alcoholism typology, the type I-type II typology, was developed from the findings of a study of Swedish adoptees and their biological and adoptive parents. Type I alcoholism affects both men and women, requires the presence of a genetic as well as an environmental predisposition, commences later in life after years of heavy drinking, and can take on either a mild or severe form. Type II alcoholism, in contrast, affects mainly sons of male alcoholics, is influenced only weakly by environmental factors, often begins during adolescence or early adulthood, is characterized by moderate severity, and usually is associated with criminal behavior.