Cognitive functioning, family history of alcoholism, and antisocial behavior in female polydrug abusers.

Family history of alcoholism and antisocial behaviour had both independent and synergic negative relationships with abstract verbal reasoning for a group of 42 female polydrug abusers whose main drug was heroin. This finding suggests that the observed lower cognitive performance may reflect the family history of alcoholism or antisocial behaviour rather than just drug abuse and is consistent with theories predicting a relative deficiency in high language skill by persons with antisocial personality disorders.