Children of problem drinkers more likely to develop alcohol problems: research news for 5/9/06

• Children who grow up with alcoholic parents bear emotional, behavioural and mental scars, experts say.  The Priory study said children of alcoholics were four times more likely to be addicted to drink and there was a risk of drug and gambling problems.  The private health provider said a child's early life was characterised by chaos, trauma, confusion and shame and, quite often, sexual and physical abuse.  The report found 55% of domestic violence occurs in alcoholic homes.  BBC News  Download the report Suffer the Children: adult children of alcoholics

• Differing brain chemistry may provide part of the answer to why some people with a strong family history of alcoholism develop alcohol dependency while others do not, new research reveals.  Scientists from four scientific institutions in the US have found that an increase in levels of D2 receptors for dopamine – the chemical messenger in the brain – may play a protective role against developing alcoholism. Scenta

• Children whose mothers drink just three glasses or more of alcohol while pregnant are at greater risk of developing a drinking disorder by the age of 21, new research has revealed.  A study found that children whose mothers who drank more than three glasses at any one time during early pregnancy were two and a half times more likely to develop problems with alcohol before the age of 18.  They were twice as likely to develop an alcohol disorder between the ages of 18 and 21.  Daily Mail  Research abstract here.