risk factors for alcoholism

Last reviewed 01/2018

There is no single factor that accounts for the variation in individual risk of developing alcohol-use disorders. The evidence suggests that harmful alcohol use and alcohol dependence have a wide range of causal factors

• family history
  • offspring of parents with alcohol dependence are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence
• genetic studies (particularly those in twins) has clearly demonstrated a genetic component to the risk of alcohol dependence
• a meta-analysis of 9,897 twin pairs from Australian and US studies found the heritability of alcohol dependence to be in excess of 50%

• psychological factors
  • psychiatric comorbidity
  • particularly depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychosis and drug misuse

• stress, adverse life events and abuse

• sex:
  • men are twice as likely to be problem drinkers

• occupation:
  • publicans and brewers have an increased access to drink and are at a higher risk
• heavy drinking is seen as the norm in some jobs e.g. sailors

• homelessness:
  • a third of homeless people have a drink problem

• race:
  • British Afro-Caribbeans and Asians have a lower rate of drink problems
• 20% of Chinese and Japanese cannot drink alcohol because of an inherited deficiency of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (1)

Reference:

• (1) National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) 2011. Alcohol-Use Disorders: Diagnosis, Assessment and Management of Harmful Drinking and Alcohol Dependence