sima-qian

[sima-qian]

Assignment #1

Step 1

I read the NESARC codebook, and I decided to focus on alcohol dependence and family histories of depression and alcohol dependency. I’m still deciding on which variables to focus on (like number of immediate relatives dependent or an individual’s rate of alcohol consumption).

Step 2:

History of Family Depression + Alcohol Dependency

Step 3:

I have noticed in the past how parents often influence their child’s behavior. More so, I have been curious how the environment we grow up in and the people we associate with can influence our habits (good or bad). Some people imitate or inherit the physical and mental expressions seen from their parents and relatives. The adoption of the expressions and habits may not be immediate or obvious, but can have lasting impact.

Step 3

For my codebook I started in the given NESARC codebook and used sections 2D: Family History of Alcoholism, 3C: Alcohol Abuse and 4B: Family History of Depression.

Step 6

Donna M Coviello, Arthur I Alterman, John S Cacciola, Megan J Rutherford, Dave A Zanis, The role of family history in addiction severity and treatment response, Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, Volume 26, Issue 1, 2004, Pages 1-11, ISSN 0740-5472, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0740-5472(03)00143-0-https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0740547203001430)

Weissman MM, Berry OO, Warner V, et al. A 30-Year Study of 3 Generations at High Risk and Low Risk for Depression. JAMA Psychiatry. 2016;73(9):970–977. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.1586

Milne BJ, Caspi A, Harrington H, Poulton R, Rutter M, Moffitt TE. Predictive Value of Family History on Severity of Illness: The Case for Depression, Anxiety, Alcohol Dependence, and Drug Dependence. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2009;66(7):738–747. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.55

Blow, F.C., Serras, A.M. & Barry, K.L. Late-life depression and alcoholism. Curr Psychiatry Rep 9, 14–19 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-007-0004-z

Literature Review: Of the papers and reports reviewed a trend persisted concerning familial substance dependency and cross-generational depression. Coviello (et all) was the exception, noting in their study that for recovery dependents, there was no significant difference on how family history affected treatment seekers for alcoholic dependency. Blow et.al and Milne et al followed the prevailing trend that early exposure to substance dependency and the comorbid existence of cross-generational depression in parents and grandparents can exacerbate an individual’s symptoms later in life.

Step 7

My hypothesis: If an individual is exposed to paternal alcohol dependency and emotional depressive behavior then they are at a higher risk of developing those qualities later in life.