Running head: CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS 1

Children of Alcoholics

Julisa Segovia

Arizona State University

ENG 102

Kandace Kardell

September 4, 2018
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There is nothing wrong with a child seeing their parent have a drink occasionally, it starts to

become an issue when the parent becomes irresponsible with their drinking and allowing it to

affect their child. Children of alcoholics are the biggest, set population to be affected by

alcoholism. Comparing children of non-alcoholics to those children of alcoholics; children of

alcoholics are more likely to develop mental disabilities opposed to children of non-alcoholics.

Throughout my research I will support in favor of children of alcoholics and the negative

outcomes they face throughout their childhood, adolescent development, and adulthood.

Edwards, E.P., Eiden, R.D., Colder, C., Leonard, K.E. (2006). The development of aggression in

18 to 48 month old children of alcoholic parents. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

34(3). 409-423.

For this study, researchers looked at the developmental aggressive and oppositional behavior of

alcoholic and nonalcoholic families. Research tested 226 families with children age ranged at 18,

24, 36, and 48 months. Children with non-alcoholic parents were found to have lower levels of

aggressive behavior compared to those with alcoholic parent(s). Researchers also discovered that

those children who have 2 alcoholic parents never saw a decrease in aggressive behavior until

ages 3 or 4 years-old. The study then added the Family Risk Score model, and was able to

eliminate their results on aggressive behavior and find that being a child of an alcoholic could

later result in depression, anti-social behavior, and poor child temperament.

Kearns, J.N.B., Leonard, K.E. (2008). Relationship functioning among adult children of

alcoholics. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 69(4), 941-950

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This article discusses the adult child of alcoholics and their later maternal and parental

relationships. The two researchers tested on couples at the beginning of marriage, first year,

second year and their fourth year of marriage. The researchers had some couples that were

completely separated during the time. It was discovered that for husbands, alcoholism in the

mother was associated with low satisfaction, and aggression throughout the marriage. Whereas

for the wives of the study, who had alcoholic fathers, were shown to shower lower intimacy, and

aggression within the marriage. Aggression was more common for those who were raised by two

alcoholic parents. Thus, concluding that children raised by alcoholic parents are likely to take the

problematic effects of their own family to their new family.

Lease, S. H. (2002). A model of depression in adult children of alcoholics and

non-alcoholics. Journal of Counseling & Development. 80(4), 441-451.

The journal, A Model of Depression in Adult Children of Alcoholics and Non-Alcoholics by

Suzanne Lease, develops the hypothesis stating that certain drinking behaviors disrupt family

functioning. This study looked into the different stages of depression in adult children of

alcoholics and non-alcoholics, the forms of parental drinking behaviors, family interactions,

attachment behaviors, and self-esteem. The participants included 137 students who were enrolled

in an undergraduate program aging from 18 to 55. Eighty students were determined to be

children of alcoholics and 57 were children of non-alcoholics. Lease’s results support half of the

hypothesis by discovering that drinking behaviors can influence family processing and

influences self-esteem, however does not influence depression.

Park, S., Schepp, K.G. (2014). A systematic review of research on children of alcoholics: Their

inherent resilience and vulnerability. Journal of Child and Family Development. 24(5),

1222-1231
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The article, A Systematic Review of Research on Children of Alcoholics: Their Inherent

Resilience and Vulnerability, by Sihyun Park and Karen Schepp. Both Park and Schepp studied

articles based on the belief that children of alcoholics often tend to show negative development

while growing up; meaning children of alcoholics are prone to depression, anxiety, suicidal

tendencies, substance abuse, and struggles with self-esteem. The researchers studied and

examined risk, protective, biological factors in children of alcoholics. A few of their studies

discovered that the ages where parental drinking becomes impactful is 12-48 months. It was

determined that adolescent, children of alcoholics were more likely to shoe external behaviors

than internalize where as to children on non-alcoholics were shown to have trouble with

internalized behaviors.

Post, P., Webb, W., Robinson, B. (2008). Relationship between self-concept, anxiety, and

knowledge of alcoholism by gender and age among adult children of alcoholics. Journal

of Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly. 8(3). 91-95

The journal, Relationship between Self-Concept, Anxiety, and Knowledge…, discusses the

frustration of inconsistent findings of comparisons of adult children of alcoholics and non-

alcoholics. Post, Webb, and Robinson requested volunteers by telling them it was only for

students with alcoholic backgrounds, a total of 230 students volunteered. Only 58 identified

themselves as an adult child of an alcoholic. Unfortunately, this study found no correlation

between alcoholism and self-concept, or anxiety in the male subjects, however there was a

significant correlation between the female subjects; reporting higher levels of low self-esteem

and anxiety.
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Serec, M., Svab, I., Kolsek, M., Svar, V., Moesgen, D., Klein, M. (2012). Health-related

lifestyle, physical and mental health in children of alcoholic parents. Drug and Alcohol

Review. 31(7). 861-870

For this article, the authors aim to discover the difference between children of alcoholics and the

controls of their lifestyle, (mental and physical health). The researched recruited 57 children of

alcoholics half of which came from an elementary school and the other from a high school, age

ranging between 12 and 18. The recruits were asked to take a questionnaire regarding their

mental and physical health. Research discovered that these children of alcoholics reported to

have lower socio-economic status, poor school performance, and more mental health difficulties.

It was discovered that girls, who were children of alcoholics were more likely to show emotional

and somatic symptom compared to boys. Researchers concluded that children of alcoholics have

a less healthy lifestyle, high risk of mental health issues, and poor economic status.

Singh, A. (2017). Self-efficacy and well-being in adolescent children of alcoholic parents.

Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing. 8(7). 619-621

Journal Article, Self-efficacy and well-being in adolescent children of alcoholics parents, written

but Abha Singh, discusses that adolescent children are likely to be at risk for negative outcomes

throughout their adolescence. The objective for this journal is to compare self-efficiency and

well-being in adolescent children of alcoholics to those who are children of non-alcoholics.

Researchers gather 600 volunteers from ages fourteen to eighteen, 300 of which are children of

alcoholics while the remaining 300 are children of non-alcoholics. The results of the research

ended in favor of the hypothesis, adolescent children of alcoholics were seen to have lower self-

efficacy and well-being compared to those of children of non-alcoholics.

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Woititz, E.D., Geringer, J. (2008). Adult children of alcoholics. Journal of Alcoholism Treatment

Quarterly. 1(1). 71-99.

Woititz and Geringer state that adult children of alcoholics are the largest group of people

affected by alcoholism. The article discusses that the alcoholic environment plays a major factor

in facing a dysfunctional life-style. The article gives a brief review of tested treatment plans that

were suggested to help these adult children of alcoholics. A total of 13 suggested and tested

treatments. It was concluded that every adult child of alcoholics is different and handle their

situations in different ways. But each believe they have been severely damaged emotionally and

mentally. Some to the point where they need professional help and other who just need to talk

about the issue.