The prevalence of attention deficit disorder, residual type, or minimal brain dysfunction, in a population of male alcoholic patients.

The authors assessed the prevalence of attention deficit disorder, residual type, in a population of young adult male alcoholic patients in two residential alcohol treatment programs. They found the prevalence of the disorder in this sample to be 33% and hypothesize that attention deficit disorder in childhood (and adulthood) may be associated with an increased risk for the development of alcoholism. If substantiated, this finding could be of theoretical and therapeutic importance.