Ads from Google:


Google ad
End of ad
Google Adsense ad
End of ads.

Is Alcoholism Hereditary?

Abstract: Children of alcohol-dependent parents run a higher risk of developing an alcohol problem than other children.

Web4Health logo
psychologist Independent medical expert answers on psychiatry and psychology

Is Alcoholism Hereditary?

Intelligent natural language question-answering in the area of psychology and psychiatry. Ask a simple question  Local help Info


Go the top of the page Top Forum iconDiscuss this Forum iconGet expert advice Printer Print
Question(s): 
Written by: Wendy Moelker, Psychologist in charge, tutor, Emergis center for mental health care, Goes, the Netherlands.
First version: 22 Jul 2008.
Latest revision: 22 Jul 2008.

Is alcohol addiction hereditary?

Answer:

Children of alcohol-dependent parents run a higher risk of developing an alcohol problem than other children. This has to do with three factors:

Heredity : investigations have shown that there can be a certain hereditary tendency for getting alcohol problems. This goes even more for sons of dependent fathers than for daughters. It is unknown how big the extra risk is, but children of alcohol addicts must keep in mind that they have a greater chance to develop alcohol problems. Some studies talk about a higher risk of about 50%. It is also known that certain personality characteristics, which are partly inherited, influence the risk of getting addicted. People who are often anxious, and who seek excitement in life, and who are more antisocial, will more often become alcoholists. More.

Influence of the environment : when you grow up in an environment in which people drink a lot, you can suffer from this as a child. You can feel less happy because you get less attention or because you get insecure about the sometimes unpredictable or maybe threatening behavior of your father or mother. An unhappy childhood can then play a role in the development of alcohol problems at a later age.

Habits : If your parents drink a lot, you can get used to always having alcohol everywhere. You can take over the habit to drink a lot from your parents without even thinking about it.

Intelligent natural language question-answering in the area of psychology and psychiatry. Ask a simple question:
Local help Info
Google ad
End of ad
Disclaimer: The documents contained in this web site are presented for information purposes only. The material is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified psychiatrist or psychotherapist. It can not and should not be used as a basis for diagnosis or choice of treatment. If you find anything wrong, please notify us at .
Go to top of page To top of page
Web4Health in other languages: Finnish German Greek Italian Polish Russian Swedish

add-alcohol-inherited Copyright 2003-2017 Web4Health
Copyright 2003-2017 Web4Health.
Web4Health was selected as finalist for the 2008 Stockholm Challenge Award
Translate Web4Health
We seek voluntary translators who are interested in translating Web4Health to new languages. We can provide the servers, and pay you 50 % of the income from ads on pages, which you have translated. We are especially interested in translators from German To English, From German, Swedish or English to French, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Finnish, Polish, Farsi, Russian.
web4health.info/en/tr/

Advertise here
Reach 300 000 visitors reading one million pages for a cost of 600 US $/month.
/en/ad/