Gender, birth order and family role identification among adult children of alcoholics

Much attention has been paid to the influence of family dynamics in role identification development for the children of alcoholics. This article considers the development of stable and enduring behavior traits for the child through examination of alcoholic parent(s)gender, child birth order, and child gender correlates. An examination of the main and interaction effects of child gender, gender of the alcohol parent(s), and child birth order on strength of identification with the Hero, Scapegoat, Mascot or Lost Child family roles revealed significant gender differences for the Mascot, and Lost Child roles. The presence of two alcoholic parents was significant in producing diminished strength of identification with Mascot role behaviors.     

Intelligence, birth order, and family size

The analysis of the National Child Development Study in the United Kingdom (n = 17,419) replicates some earlier findings and shows that genuine within-family data are not necessary to make the apparent birth-order effect on intelligence disappear. Birth order is not associated with intelligence in between-family data once the number of siblings is statistically controlled. The analyses support the admixture hypothesis, which avers that the apparent birth-order effect on intelligence is an artifact of family size, and cast doubt on the confluence and resource dilution models, both of which claim that birth order has a causal influence on children's cognitive development. The analyses suggest that birth order has no genuine causal effect on general intelligence.     

Individuation and adult children of alcoholics

42 adult male and 99 female volunteers from the Washington and Baltimore areas were administered the Psychological Separation Inventory, the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire, the Adult Child of Alcoholics Screening Test, the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, and the Symptom-Checklist-90--R in a study of variables associated with the development of psychopathology of adult children of alcoholics. Individuation evolving from family dynamics rather than from intrapsychic individuation was more crucial to the development of psychopathology.     

Psychological adjustment among adult children of alcoholics: a cross-cultural study.

In this study, we compared Hispanic and Caucasian college students identified as adult children of alcoholics in terms of psychological adjustment using the Diagnostic Inventory of Personality and Symptoms (DIPS; Vincent, 1985). Results of the study suggested that, among college students, Caucasian men seem to be at a greater risk for using alcohol and drugs than Caucasian women or Hispanic men and women.     

Resolving the debate over birth order, family size, and intelligence

Hundreds of research articles have addressed the relationship between birth order and intelligence. Virtually all have used cross-sectional data, which are fundamentally flawed in the assessment of within-family (including birth order) processes. Although within-family models have been based on patterns in cross-sectional data, a number of equally plausible between-family explanations also exist. Within-family (preferably intact-family) data are prerequisite for separating within- and between-family causal processes. This observation reframes an old issue in a way that can be easily addressed by studying graphical patterns. Sibling data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth are evaluated, and the results are compared with those from other studies using within-family data. It appears that although low-IQ parents have been making large families, large families do not make low-IQ children in modern U.S. society. The apparent relation between birth order and intelligence has been a methodological illusion.     

Sibship size, birth order, and personality among Kuwaiti college students

In a sample of 460 (103 men, 357 women) Kuwaiti college students (M age=21.9 yr., SD=3.0), scores on the Arabic Scale of Optimism and Pessimism, the Death Obsession Scale, the Arabic Scale of Obsession-Compulsion, the Kuwait University Anxiety Scale, the Taoist Orientation Scale, and the Suicidal Ideation Scale were not associated with sibship size and birth order.     

Preservation of implicit memory in adult children of alcoholics

The authors investigated implicit memory in 21 adult children of alcoholics (ACAs) and 24 control individuals (all college undergraduates) who performed a serial reaction time task (SRT) to evaluate their implicit memory performance and their formation of new associations. Each group was presented with 5 blocks of 100 trials per block in which Blocks 1-4 contained a 10-item repeating sequence; Block 5 was a pseudo-random sequence. The latency difference between Block 4 and Block 5 presumably measure implicit memory. The amount of implicit memory did not differ (in ms) between the ACAs (M = 55 ms) and the controls (M = 67 ms). Implicit memory (at least as measured by the SRT task) appears to be preserved in ACAs.     

Gender role conflict,instrumentality, expressiveness,and well-being in adult men

This study examined gender roles and gender role conflict in relation to a broad range of indices of psychological well-being in men. Eighty-eight community adult primarily white men (median age = 50) completed ten inventories assessing masculine role constructs and measures of psychological well-being. Whereas instrumentality continued to be the strongest correlate of traditional measures of well-being, the canonical analysis confirmed the Sharpe and Heppner 1991 study indicating that at least two roots or variates are needed to understand psychological well-being in men, and that expressivity and emotional well-being accounts for a third of the variance in adult men. The results also suggest a weak association between gender role conflict and psychological well-being. Implications and future research are discussed.     

Utilizing ret for effective treatment of adult children of alcoholics

Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) are a recognized clinical population that includes approximately one of every eight Americans. Although there has been a great deal of interest in this population, studies indicate that only 5% of ACOAs receive effective treatment. The authors assert that Rational-Emotive Therapy can provide ACOAs the education, expression of suppressed feelings, and cognitive restructuring that research indicates is necessary for recovery. This paper discusses issues associated with ACOAs and methods of using RET with this population.Marjorie E. Ferstein, M.S., is an Advisor in the Judicial Program of the University of Georgia.Susan C. Whiston is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.     

Substance use and symptomatology among adolescent children of alcoholics.

This study assessed the magnitude and specificity of parental alcoholism as a risk factor for internalizing symptomatology, externalizing symptomatology, and alcohol and drug use in adolescence. We evaluated parents' and children's reports of symptomatology and children's reports of alcohol and drug use in a community sample of 454 adolescents. The results showed that parental alcoholism was a moderate to strong risk factor, with stronger risk associated with recent (rather than remitted) parental alcoholism. Multivariate analyses showed that the specificity of risk varied with the outcome measure. In predicting externalizing symptomatology, the risk associated with parental alcoholism was mediated by co-occurring parental psychopathology and environmental stress. However, in predicting alcohol use, the father's alcoholism was a specific risk factor above and beyond the more generalized effects of stress and family disruption.     

Dilemmas and countertransference considerations in group psychotherapy with adult children of alcoholics

This article will explore special leader issues that emerge in psychodynamically oriented therapy groups with adult children of alcoholics. Particular focus will be on countertransference feelings that get stirred up in group leaders and techniques for dealing with some of these special dilemmas. Specific issues include (a) assumption of sameness between the therapist and the patient (the therapist assuming that he or she "understands" because of having also grown up in an alcoholic family); (b) the "will to restore," which may be destructive when the therapist, whose own self-esteem is dependent on the patient's progress in therapy, forces a "rush to recovery" on the patient; (c) other personal issues in the life of the therapist that may also resonate with experiences of the patient; (d) "countertransference goodness and availability" as it affects therapists' abilities to set reasonable limits on their patients, as well as reasonable expectations for themselves; and (e) special issues regarding therapist transparency and self-disclosure.     

Psychological profiles of adult children of alcoholics in search of therapy

Adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) and adults from dysfunctional families of origin are increasingly recognized as high risk groups for psychiatric disorders. However, there has been little empirical investigation of the psychological characteristics of these populations. This study compares clinical samples of these two groups using the Symptom Checklist-90, (SCL-90), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Irrational Beliefs Test (IBT), as well as DSM-III-R diagnoses and demographic information. The two groups did not differ significantly on the psychological tests and showed similar demographics and diagnoses. Both groups showed levels of psychopathology comparable to other psychiatric populations. It was concluded that clinical samples of ACOAs and adults from dysfunctional families of origin have many problems of clinical proportion. Assessment and treatment of these groups is best done by properly trained professional staff and because of their similar problems and treatment needs the two groups may be treated together.     

Married with children: How family role identification shapes leadership behaviors at work

In this paper, we explore the question of how an employee's family role identification, as driven by family structure (marital and parental status combined), affects their leadership behaviors at work. Using survey data from working professionals and executives pursuing a Master of Business Administration degree, we found that, as expected, those respondents who were both married and had children reported higher levels of family role identification relative to other respondents. Also, we found evidence of an indirect effect of family structure on leadership behaviors such that being married with children was indirectly associated with higher supervisor ratings of the respondents’ leadership behaviors via family role identification and the transfer of resources from the family role to the work role. Further, this indirect effect was stronger for women than for men. Contrary to traditional expectations, and consistent with enrichment theorizing, our findings suggest that investment in the family role can enhance employees’ display of valuable leadership behaviors in the workplace.     

Sibship size, birth order, and personality

In a sample of 273 American college students who were administered seven personality tests, only death obsession scores were consistently associated with sibship size and birth order (not optimism, pessimism, anxiety, a Taoist orientation, suicidal ideation, or obsessive-compulsive tendencies).