Braun B, et al. - Researchers performed a comparison of religious denomination, religiosity, guilt, altruism and forgiveness between alcohol-dependent patients and healthy control subjects and prospectively investigated their relationship to the disorder’s 24-month course following in-patient withdrawal treatment. The study revealed religious denomination, private religious practice, religious affiliation, guilt and reduced attainability of altruism as risk factors for alcohol dependence and a worse follow-up outcome. Findings seem to have significance for establishing future preventive and therapeutic strategies.