Clinical course and outcome of substance abuse disorders in adolescents.

Seven percent (19 of 275) of children and adolescents not ascertained for seeking treatment received a DSM-III diagnosis of alcohol or drug use disorder. Their entire families were recruited into a research program designed to study the risk to offspring of parental psychopathology. The ages of those diagnosed were between 12 and 18 years. The drug and alcohol use disorders had a mean duration of 2 years, and the adolescents who remitted had a high likelihood of developing subsequent psychopathology. These adolescents also showed high rates of other psychiatric disorders. A high rate of alcoholism was found among their parents.