Family Studies of Alcoholism.

Throughout the past Several decades clinical researchers have attempted to clarify the role of family influence in the etiology and course of alcoholism. After a brief historical overview of this literature, both of these research directions are reviewed in some detail, with an emphasis on recent empirical studies and emerging conceptualizations regarding the family alcoholism matrix. A final section of the article describes a number of important research needs, many of which are deemed relevant to the broader field of family studies of psychopathology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]