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A Review and Critique

Donald W. Goodwin, MD

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1971;25(6):545-549.

Abstract
Alcoholism is a familial disorder; studies have repeatedly shown a high prevalence of alcoholism among the relatives of alcoholics. In studying a familial disorder, it is important to determine whether the illness is influenced by heredity. Separating "nature" from "nurture" is a difficult (some say impossible) task, but nevertheless, through the years, there have been a number of studies and much speculation concerning a possible role of heredity in alcoholism. The studies can be grouped into five types: (1) family studies, (2) twin studies, (3) adoption studies, (4) genetic marker studies and (5) "selfselection" animal studies.

Author Affiliations
St. Louis

From the Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Jan 20, 1971.

Reprint requests to Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 4940 Audubon Ave, St. Louis 63110 (Dr. Goodwin).

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