Association between parental and offspring’s alcohol use – population data from India

Aim: Authors investigated the association between alcohol use of parents and offspring in data derived from a district based household survey on drug abuse. Methods: Data on 4411 fathers paired with 6884 offspring were available. Alcohol use disorders were diagnosed based on DSM-III-R criteria. Analyses was conducted to contrast 1979 offspring of alcohol using fathers (AU+ [n=1246]) with 4885 offspring of non alcohol using fathers (AU− [n=3170]). Results: 10% of offspring of AU+ fathers used alcohol compared to 3.7% offspring of AUfathers. The offspring of AU+ fathers had higher odds for alcohol use (OR= 2.9, 95% CI=2.4 –3.6) and tobacco use (OR= 1.5, 95% CI=1.3–1.8) (past 30 days) compared to offspring of AUfathers. Offspring of AU+ fathers were significantly younger and less educated than offspring of AUfathers. Conclusions: Offspring of alcohol using fathers are a risk group for alcohol use. There is a need for interventions that address parent alcohol use to mitigate the risk for alcohol use in male offspring.