DISCUSSION
This study is the first to use a population-based national sample to investigate the odds of AUD in offspring based on the number of AUD parents. The findings indicated that (1) 22% of adults in the United States had at least 1 biological parent with AUD, (2) the odds of lifetime AUD were 2.51 times higher in offspring of 1 AUD parent and 4.44 times higher in offspring of 2 AUD parents compared to offspring of non-AUD parents, (3) each additional AUD parent increased the odds of offspring AUD in an additive pattern, and (4) female offspring were more vulnerable to the impact of parental AUD than male offspring.
The finding that 22% of adults had AUD parents was similar to an earlier report estimating that 28.6% of children in the United States are exposed to AUD in their family.28 Potentially, our rate of 22% could have been higher if the NESARC had included individuals in institutional settings, such as hospitals and jails, where many adults with AUD may be found. Among participants with 1 AUD parent, the number of those with AUD fathers (n = 6,784) was 8 times higher than the number of those with AUD mothers (n = 855). This finding is consistent with the high prevalence of AUD among men as compared to women.29,30