Taken literally, this term indicates people over the age of eighteen, who have at least one biological parent with severe and repetitive life problems with alcohol. Because of their genetic and familial relationship to an alcoholic, these people carry an increasedrisk of severe alcohol problems themselves (a probability of two to four times that of children of nonalcoholics). Probabilities also indicate that they are not more vulnerable to severe psychiatric disorders (such as schizophrenia or manic depressive disease) and that they do not carry a heightenedrisk for severe problems with some drugs of abuse (such as heroin). Nevertheless, it is possible that when children of alcoholics reach adolescence or adulthood, they might be slightly more likely to have problems with marijuana-type drugs or with stimulants (such as cocaine or amphetamines). It has also been observed that if their childhood home...