Familial resemblance of alcohol consumption levels in Jewish families

The role of genetic and environmental factors determining the variability in alcohol consumption levels was investigated in 68 families ascertained through heroin-dependent Jewish male probands. Sibling correlations for peak weekly alcohol consumption ranged from 0.22 to 0.32, with limited changes on adjustment for sex, age and environmental variables. The parent-child correlations were relatively low. Segregation analysis indicated that a major effect of a non-transmitted environmental factor explained the mixture of distributions. There was no evidence for a polygenic effect on alcohol consumption in the families. When segregation models were fitted to sex, age and environment-adjusted alcohol levels, the mixed environment model was rejected, whereas the mixed genetic model was not. These findings are consistent with two previously published segregation analyses of alcohol dependence, and further highlight the heterogeneous aetiology and transmission of alcohol consumption and alcohol dependence.