Liability to alprazolam abuse in daughters of alcoholics.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine mood changes in women with a parental history of alcohol dependence (daughters of alcoholics) after challenge does of alprazolam and placebo in comparison with responses in women without a history of parental alcohol dependence. Visual analog scales that assess liability to benzodiazepine abuse were administered to 12 adult daughters of alcoholics and 11 comparison subjects after alprazolam challenge. The daughters of alcoholics had greater pleasant mood responses after a single dose of alprazolam than did the comparison subjects despite having similar plasma alprazolam levels. The findings of this study suggest that the mood-enhancing effects of alprazolam are greater in daughters of alcoholics than in subjects without a history of parental alcohol dependence.