Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on October 9, 2009
Alcohol and Alcoholism, doi:10.1093/alcalc/agp064
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Medical Council on Alcohol 2009
Deficits in Affective Prosody Comprehension: Family History of Alcoholism versus Alcohol Exposure
1 Behavioral Sciences Laboratories, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
2 Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
3 Affective Communication Research Laboratory, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
4 Department of Neurology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
5 Center for the Study of Human Operator Performance, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
6 Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
* Corresponding author: VA Medical Center (151A) 921 NE 13th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. Tel: +1-405-456-1454 ext. 3131; Fax: +1-405-271-3887; E-mail: Kristen-sorocco{at}ouhsc.edu
Received 17 December 2008; first review notified 23 February 2009; in revised form 22 August 2009; accepted 3 September 2009
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Abstract |
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Background: Abstinent alcoholics have deficits in comprehending the affective intonation in speech. Prior work suggests that these deficits are due to alcohol exposure rather than preexisting risk factors for alcoholism. The present paper examines whether family history of alcoholism is a contributor to affective prosody deficits in alcoholics. Methods: Fifty-eight healthy, nonabusing young adults with and without a family history of alcoholism or other substance abuse (29 FH+ and 29 FH–) were compared on affective prosody comprehension using the Aprosodia Battery. A secondary analysis was done comparing affective prosody comprehension in FH+ and FH– detoxified alcoholics from an earlier study (17 FH+ and 14 FH–). Results: Performance on the Aprosodia Battery was not related to FH status in either the healthy, nonabusing sample or in the detoxified alcoholic group. Conclusions: The present study lends support to previous research suggesting that deficits in affective prosody comprehension observed in detoxified alcoholics are associated with a history of heavy drinking rather than with a family history of alcoholism.