Premorbid assessment of young men at high risk for alcoholism.

The high-risk paradigm has been applied to a group of sons of alcoholic fathers and a control group without parental alcoholism. The sample is selected from a Danish birth cohort (1959 to 1961) including 8949 consecutive deliveries. A multidisciplinary assessment was undertaken when the subjects were 18 to 19 years old. The over-all results from this premorbid phase of the longitudinal study are presented. Items such as impulsivity, restlessness, and specific school problems are characteristic for the high-risk group and may be of predictive importance. A follow-up assessment of the sample is planned during the next five to ten years.