Response to adults' angry behavior in children of alcoholic and nonalcoholic parents

Children from alcoholic (COAs) and nonalcoholic (NCOAs) homes (N = 35; M age = 8.02 years) were presented with videotaped segments of angry and friendly interactions matched for mode of expression of affect (verbal, indirect, nonverbal, destructive or constructive, and aggressive or affectionate) and were interviewed following each segment. Children perceived all forms of expression of anger as more negative and expressed more anger and distress in response to them. Angry adults also were perceived as having more negative feelings toward children than friendly adults. Whereas male NCOAs responded with more anger than female NCOAs, male COAs responded with less anger than female COAs. COAs more often proposed solutions to adults' interactions than NCOAs; this primarily reflected a higher rate of indirect responses intended to make others feel better. Finally, COA status and problem behaviors were associated, but analyses indicated that higher incidences of marital discord in the homes of COAs accounted for this relation.     

Collegiate COAs and Alcohol Abuse: Problem Drinking in Relation to Assessments of Parent and Grandparent Alcoholism

In a survey of college students (N = 860), significantly greater problem drinking was indicated by students who reported having a parent or grandparent diagnosed or treated for alcoholism. The highest rates of problem drinking were found among students who reported both an alcoholic parent and grandparent. Students who had experienced distress and family discord from parental alcohol abuse, though without a diagnosed alcoholic parent, also indicated greater problem drinking. The increased alcohol problems of students without a diagnosed alcoholic parent, however, were somewhat different from other children of alcoholics (COAs). Thus, different types of COAs must be considered in research, treatment, and prevention programs.     

Social competence in children of alcoholic parents over time

In the current study, the authors tested the hypothesis that children of alcoholic parents (COAs) show deficits in social competence that begin in early childhood and escalate through middle adolescence. Teachers, parents, and children reported on the social competence of COAs and matched controls in a community sample assessed from ages 6 to 15. Hierarchical linear growth models revealed different patterns of change in social competence across development as a function of the reporter of various indicators of competence. Moreover, female COAs showed deficits in social competence in early childhood that receded in adolescence and that varied across subtypes of parent alcoholism. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of social competence in children, and at-risk children in particular, are discussed.     

Telescoped trajectories from alcohol initiation to disorder in children of alcoholic parents

The current study tested whether and why children of alcoholics (COAs) showed telescoped (adolescent) drinking initiation-to-disorder trajectories as compared with non-COAs. Using longitudinal data from a community-based sample, the authors confirmed through survival analyses that COAs progressed more quickly from initial adolescent alcohol use to the onset of disorder than do matched controls. Similar risks for telescoping were evident in COAs whose parents were actively symptomatic versus those whose parents had been previously diagnosed. Stronger telescoping effects were observed for COAs whose parents showed comorbidity for either depression or antisocial personality disorder. Both greater externalizing symptoms and more frequent, heavier drinking patterns at initiation failed to explain COAs' risk for telescoping, although externalizing symptoms were a unique predictor of telescoping. This risk for telescoping was also evident for drug disorders. These findings characterize a risky course of drinking in COAs and raise important questions concerning the underlying mechanisms and consequences of telescoping in COAs.     

Is early identification of children of alcoholics necessary for preventive intervention? Reaction to Havey and Dodd

Havey and Dodd (1995, this issue) address the question of how to best identify early adolescents who are at risk for later substance abuse, with a particular focus on children of alcoholics (COAs). They conclude that stressful family events are preferable to COA status as an at-risk indicator. In addition, they question the well-substantiated at-risk status of COAs, claiming support for the null hypothesis regarding individual and family differences between COAs and non-COAs. This article addresses both conceptual and methodological concerns about identification and intervention for COAs in general, and about the Havey and Dodd study in particular. I first discuss a theoretically-empirically based approach to identification and risk prevention that supports a more complex, less parsimonious, model than that suggested by Havey and Dodd. Second, I present research to support the at-risk status of COAs. Third, I discuss issues related to identification of COAs and question the validity of Havey and Dodd's identification techniques. On the basis of conceptual and methodological arguments, I contend that Havey and Dodd's conclusions are not well-founded in their own or others' research and that the at-risk status of COAs cannot be dismissed on the basis of their research. I also contend that early identification may not be necessary for intervention with COAs or other at-risk groups. Alternatively, primary prevention programs provide the context for both service delivery and identification of individuals who might not otherwise be easily identified, particularly those at risk for developing mental health problems because of family environment factors (e.g., family alcoholism or conflict), or those currently experiencing mild or internalized (e.g., depression) adjustment difficulties.     

Predictors of Family Functioning Within Alcoholic Families

This study assessed the effects of various predictor variables on dimensions of functioning within alcoholic families. Participants were 173 college student volunteers from alcoholic families who completed a measure of family functioning, demographic questions, and questions related to experiences in their families of origin. Child abuse, spousal violence, parental divorce, length of time living with an alcoholic parent, parental marital status, and parental availability and predictability significantly affected family functioning, whereas frequency of parental drinking did not. Results suggest that quality of parental interactions with children is more important for functioning in alcoholic families than frequency of parental drinking.     

Children of alcoholics, negative life events, and early experimentation with drugs

Questionnaires were completed by sixth-grade students and their parents in order to assess differences between children of alcoholics (COAs) and their peers, as well as the relations between family environment and children's experimentation with alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Social competence and problematic behavior were also explored. The best predictors of early experimentation with alcohol, drugs, and tobacco were the experience of negative life events, family conflict, and lack of family cohesion, but not COA status per se. Differences were found between COAs and non-COAs in respect to family structure, parent education levels, and family environment. COAs were found to be significantly more likely than their peers to experiment with tobacco, but not alcohol or drugs. They also had a tendency to engage more frequently in delinquent behavior. Recommendations for future research and implications for preventive activities are discussed.     

Pastoral counseling with alcoholics and their families

The pastor is often in contact with the alcoholic and his or her family. Providing help to alcoholics and their families is a spiritual, humanistic, and therapeutic challenge. Recent developments have favored a family systems orientation to working with alcoholic families. This orientation acknowledges the family as contributor to maintaining alcoholic behavior and includes the family in treatment. Specific family systems concepts are discussed and how they relate to the dysfunctional unit which houses an alcoholic. Implications for pastors and specific role definitions are explored. Krebs' therapeutic model is expanded to: 1) evaluate, 2) support, 3) refer, and 4) support, as appropriate for the pastor working with alcoholics and their families.     

The Development of Aggression in 18 to 48 Month Old Children of Alcoholic Parents

This study examined the development of aggressive and oppositional behavior among alcoholic and nonalcoholic families using latent growth modeling. The sample consisted of 226 families assessed at 18, 24, 36, and 48 months of child age. Results indicated that children in families with nonalcoholic parents had the lowest levels of aggressive behavior at all time points compared to children with one or more alcoholic parents. Children in families with two alcoholic parents did not exhibit normative decreases in aggressive behavior from 3 to 4 years of age compared to nonalcoholic families. However, this association was no longer significant once a cumulative family risk score was added to the model. Children in families with high cumulative risk scores, reflective of high parental depression, antisocial behavior, negative affect during play, difficult child temperament, marital conflict, fathers’ education, and hours spent in child care, had higher levels of aggression at 18 months than children in low risk families. These associations were moderated by child gender. Boys had higher levels of aggressive behavior at all ages than girls, regardless of group status. Cumulative risk was predictive of higher levels of initial aggressive behavior in both girls and boys. However, boys with two alcoholic parents had significantly less of a decline in aggression from 36 to 48 months compared to boys in the nonalcoholic group.     

Characteristics of children of alcoholics: putative risk factors, substance use and abuse, and psychopathology.

A sample of 253 children of alcoholics (COAs) and 237 children of nonalcoholics (non-COAs) were compared on alcohol and drug use, psychopathology, cognitive ability, and personality. COAs reported more alcohol and drug problems, stronger alcohol expectancies, higher levels of behavioral undercontrol and neuroticism, and more psychiatric distress in relation to non-COAs. They also evidenced lower academic achievement and less verbal ability than non-COAs. COAs were given Diagnostic Interview Schedule alcohol diagnoses more frequently than non-COAs. The relation between paternal alcoholism and offspring alcohol involvement was mediated by behavioral undercontrol and alcohol expectancies. Although gender differences were found, there were few Gender X Family History interactions; the effects of family history of alcoholism were similar for men and women. When gender effects were found, they showed greater family history effects for women.     

The role of risk and protective factors in predicting symptomatology in adolescent self-identified children of alcoholic parents

Tested a stress process model for predicting mental health symptoms in children of alcoholics (COAs). Stress and mental health measures were completed twice over a 3-month period by 145 high school students, 43 of whom self-identified as COAs. Using structural equation modeling, a stress process model for predicting mental health symptoms in children provided a good fit to the data. COA status was related to higher levels of negative and lower levels of positive events. In turn, positive and negative life events were found to have an immediate, but not a longitudinal, direct effect on adolescent symptomatology.     

Treating jealousy as a system dynamic in recovering alcoholic families: An application of the social network model of recovery

Jealousy often interferes with the recovery process for alcoholic families. Recovery for such families requires that external boundaries shift from rigid and closed to open and more permeable. Jealousy often erupts as families struggle with shifting boundaries. When jealousy is recognized as a system dynamic, necessary to the process of recovery, it is manageable. The key to the treatment of jealousy in recovering families is recognizing the crucial role of boundaries in both the development and recovery processes.     

Externalizing symptoms among children of alcoholic parents: Entry points for an antisocial pathway to alcoholism

The authors examined heterogeneity in risk for externalizing symptoms in children of alcoholic parents, as it may inform the search for entry points into an antisocial pathway to alcoholism. That is, they tested whether the number of alcoholic parents in a family, the comorbid subtype of parental alcoholism, and the gender of the child predicted trajectories of externalizing symptoms over the early life course, as assessed in high-risk samples of children of alcoholic parents and matched controls. Through integrative analyses of 2 independent, longitudinal studies, they showed that children with either an antisocial alcoholic parent or 2 alcoholic parents were at greatest risk for externalizing symptoms. Moreover, children with a depressed alcoholic parent did not differ from those with an antisocial alcoholic parent in reported symptoms. These findings were generally consistent across mother, father, and adolescent reports of symptoms; child gender and child age (ages 2 through 17); and the 2 independent studies examined. Multialcoholic and comorbid-alcoholic families may thus convey a genetic susceptibility to dysregulation along with environments that both exacerbate this susceptibility and provide few supports to offset it.     

Parental Communication of Responsiveness and Control as Predictors of Adolescents' Emotional and Behavioral Resilience in Families with Alcoholic Versus Nonalcoholic Parents

Interactions between parents and children establish norms for managing emotions and behavior, which are markers of resilience. This study examines how features of interpersonal communication between parents and children facilitate the resilience of children of alcoholic parents versus nonalcoholic parents. Parent–adolescent dyads (30 families of alcoholics, 30 families of nonalcoholics) were invited to participate in two videotaped interactions, which were then rated for parental responsiveness and control and adolescent emotion regulation and behavioral impulsivity. Parental responsiveness was positively associated with emotion regulation, and parental control was negatively associated with emotion regulation and positively associated with impulsivity. Moderation analyses point to several notable differences in the effects for alcoholic versus nonalcoholic families.     

Do adolescent symptomatology and family environment vary over time with fluctuations in paternal alcohol impairment?

This study tested whether adolescent internalizing problems, externalizing problems, heavy alcohol use, fathers' parenting, and family conflict varied over time with fluctuations in fathers' alcohol impairment and also whether children of recovered alcoholic fathers differed from children of nonalcoholic fathers. Fathers and adolescent children (N = 267 families) were interviewed in 3 annual assessments. Results showed that adolescent symptomatology and the family environment did not vary over time as a function of different trajectories of paternal alcohol impairment. However, children of recovered alcoholic fathers exhibited more symptomatology than did children of nonalcoholic fathers. Even though paternal alcoholism has remitted in these families, children of recovered alcoholic fathers might remain on a general higher risk trajectory relative to children of nonalcoholic fathers.     

Spatial Location Memory in Amnesia: Binding Item and Location Information Under Incidental and Intentional Encoding Conditions

Items located within an array were presented to alcoholic Korsakoff and nonalcoholic mixed-etiology amnesics and to alcoholic and normal controls. Recognition memory for the locations of items was tested after incidental and intentional encoding. When equated on item recognition, neither Korsakoff amnesics nor alcoholic controls benefited from intentional, relative to incidental, encoding instructions. Furthermore, Korsakoff amnesics showed neither disproportionately impaired incidental nor intentional location recognition memory relative to alcoholic controls. In contrast, mixed-etiology amnesics profited significantly from intentional location acquisition relative to incidental instructions, and were impaired somewhat in incidental, but not intentional, location memory relative to normal controls. We discuss these data in relation to Mayes' (1992) contextual memory deficit hypothesis and Hirst's (1982) automatic encoding deficit account, and propose an alternative framework in which the location memory deficit observed in mixed-etiology amnesics is interpreted as a disruption to the ability to bind item and location information.     

Family Process as a Mediator of the Negative Effects of Parental Alcoholism on Young Adult Dating Relationships

The effects of parental alcoholism on young adult dating relationship quality (trust, intimacy, commitment, and satisfaction) were considered in the context of the mediating variable of family process (cohesion, conflict resolution, and family competence). A model was tested with a sample of 287 young adults (95 were adult children of alcoholics) that suggested that healthier family process mediates the negative effects of having an alcoholic parent on dating relationship quality. Structural equation modeling results showed that the model fit the data. Young adults from alcoholic families in which family process was less negatively affected by parental alcoholism were less likely to report lower dating relationship quality than those from families in which family process was more negatively affected by parental alcoholism. Parental divorce was directly related to lower relationship quality. Clinical implications for working with young adult children of alcoholics are discussed.     

Family participation in the treatment of alcoholism

The effect of family involvement on the efficacy of alcoholic treatment was investigated. Degree of family involvement, as measured by the participation of the wives of 60 alcoholics in a hospital family lecture series, was compared to recidivism rates and to completion of the in-patient treatment program. The wives' participation was closely related to whether or not their husbands completed in-patient treatment. Participation also appeared to be related to recidivism although additional services in the area of counseling for discharged alcoholic patients and their families are obviously needed.     

Couples at risk for transmission of alcoholism: protective influences

A two-generation, sociocultural model of the transmission of alcoholism in families was operationalized and tested. Sixty-eight married children of alcoholic parents and their spouses were interviewed regarding dinner-time and holiday ritual practices in their families of origin, and heritage and ritual practices in the couples' current generation. Coders rated transcribed interviews along 14 theory-derived predictor variables, nine for the family of origin and five for the current nuclear family. Multiple regression analysis was applied in a two-step hierarchical method, with the dependent variable being transmission of alcoholism to the couple. The 14 predictor variables contributed significantly (p less than .01) to the couple's alcoholism outcome. A general theme of selective disengagement and reengagement for couples in families at risk for alcoholism recurrence is discussed.     

Stability/Instability in the Alcoholic Marriage: The Interrelationships Between Course of Alcoholism,Family Process,and Marital Outcome

Thirty-one alcoholic families who were originally studied in home, multiple-family group, and laboratory settings were reassessed two years later to determine course of alcoholism and degree of marital stability. This paper presents data comparing baseline alcohol consumption and family interactional behavior at home with subsequent alcoholism and marital stability outcomes. Findings suggest that the relative degree of stability/instability in these marriages is best understood as a function of the “goodness-of-fit” between the relative predictability of drinking on the part of the identified alcoholic and the family's characteristic pattern of interactional behavior at home.