"The results of this study confirmed our previous hypothesis that sweet liking is associated with genetic risk of alcoholism as measured by the paternal history of alcoholism," said Alexei B. Kampov-Polevoy, assistant professor of psychiatry at Mount. Sinai School of Medicine and first author of the study. "Then we tested the hypothesis that sweet liking can predict alcoholic status of an individual. Analysis showed that sweet liking by itself was not sufficient to predict alcoholic status of an individual … sweet likers were found among both alcoholics and non-alcoholic patients. Only a combination of sweet liking and elevated novelty seeking, as measured by the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire, was sufficient to make such a prediction."
Kampov said that he and his colleagues decided to examine the role of "novelty seeking" in the equation because previous research has strongly implicated the presence of various elements of behavioral undercontrol – a personality trait that reflects an individual's inability or unwillingness to inhibit behavioral responses in the face of impending punishment – in alcoholics.
"Novelty seeking has been frequently found to be higher in alcoholics, compared with nonalcoholic control subjects, as well as in patients with a familial form of alcoholism, compared with patients with nonfamilial forms of alcoholism," said Kampov. "It is believed that high novelty seeking causes early experimentation with alcohol and, as a result, higher lifetime rates of heavy drinking, alcohol abuse and dependence. In the past, there were several attempts to use novelty seeking as a predictor of alcoholism that failed because elevated novelty seeking can be also found in individuals who do not have any substance-abuse problems."
Higher Risk for Alcoholism
"It has been known for some time that sensation seeking or novelty seeking are associated with risk for alcoholism," agreed James C. Garbutt, professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, "but that these are not the only traits associated with risk. It is intriguing that Dr. Kampov has some evidence linking this personality trait with sweet liking to indicate a higher risk for alcoholism."Researchers examined 165 middle-aged patients admitted to a residential treatment program for alcohol, drug dependence, and/or interpersonal problems related to substance-abusing family members. On the 24th day after admission, participants were given the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and a standard sweet-taste test, and evaluated for paternal family history of alcoholism.
"The main finding of this study is that two independent and presumably heritable traits, such as sweet liking and high novelty seeking, separately were insufficient to predict alcoholism in our sample," said Kampov. "However, if a person had both of these traits, he or she most likely was an alcoholic."
Identifying Alcoholism Factors
"I think it is important to place this information into the context of what this means for a clinician and for a lay person," added Garbutt. "First, this method is not being proposed as a means to diagnose alcoholism. Rather, I would view the significance of the findings as contributing to our ability to understand subtypes of alcoholics and that, in turn, could have implications for treatment … although any treatment implications will require further study."Second, identifying factors that appear to be associated with alcoholism is the step required before testing them in a prospective study of individuals at risk for alcoholism to determine if these factors can indeed tell us something about who is at highest risk for alcoholism."
Simple Test Could Be Developed
Kampov concurs. "If confirmed by further research, these findings may lead to the development of a simple test that will allow clinicians to assess the risk of developing alcoholism of any given individual early in his or her lifetime," he said. "All parents are anxious to know about their child's risk of developing alcoholism. Based on our findings, we may say that for children – especially boys – who prefer stronger sweet tastes and have signs of elevated novelty seeking, it is especially important to delay their first experience with alcohol, although the same advice is good for all children."
