This study evaluates the relationship between having an alcoholic (i.e., alcohol-dependent) parent and the presence of a spouse with a similar diagnosis. Data relating to 708 men and 708 women, the parents ofthe questionnaire respondents, revealed that even after controlling for the increased rate of alcohol-dependent spouses among alcoholics, assortative mating appears to be associated with positive family histories of alcoholism. Within this sample, nonalcoholic daughters of alcoholics were more than twice as likely to marry an alcoholic as nonalcoholic daughters of nonalcoholics, irrespective of the alcoholic parent's gender. In contrast, in the same sample daughters of alcoholics did not demonstrate a higher rate for having a spouse with another ofthe more common psychiatric syndromes, a major depressive *To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Psychiatry 116A, University of California-San Diego, 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, California 92161.
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238SCHUCKIT, TIPP, AND KELNER episode. In this sample, sons of alcoholics did not demonstrate an increased rate for marrying an alcoholic when compared to sons of nonalcoholics.