Psychiatric diagnoses among Mission Indian children with and without a parental history of alcohol dependence.

OBJECTIVE

The primary goal was to determine whether Mission Indian children of alcoholics (COAs) have higher rates of psychiatric disorders than Mission Indian non-COAs. A secondary goal was to explore associations of other familial variables with rates of childhood psychiatric disorders.

METHOD: Psychiatric diagnoses were obtained from the primary caregiver, using the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism (SSAGA), for 117 (63 female) Mission Indian children; 81 of the children were interviewed directly. Of the 117 subjects, 92 (79%) were COAs and 25 (21%) were not.

RESULTS

There were no differences in rates of psychiatric disorders between COAs and non-COAs. Living in a household without a mother was associated with a higher rate of separation anxiety disorder, and living in a household without a father was associated with a higher rate of both oppositional defiant disorder and separation anxiety disorder.

CONCLUSIONS

Parental alcohol dependence does not appear to relate to increased psychopathology among Mission Indian children, but living in a single parent household may be associated with increased rates of some psychiatric disorders.