Two types of elderly alcohol abusers are described. Early onset or long-term alcohol abusers are abusers with long-standing behavioral problems considered well known to the social service delivery system. Late-life onset elderly alcohol abusers are those whose drinking problems began in the later years, after age 50, often in response to stresses…

Parental drinking impacts multiple aspects of child development and, given the magnitude of problems associated with parental alcoholism, early identification of children of alcoholics (COAs) is a critical issue to professionals responsible for the effective treatment of these children. Traditional measures for assessing the adjustment of…

Although research has shown the problems associated with being the offspring of an alcoholic, not all such offspring are maladjusted. To investigate the relationships among variables associated with the adjustment of children of alcoholic fathers, 30 offspring of alcoholic fathers and 40 controls, aged 18 to 23 years, completed demographic,…

The majority of depressive symptoms, prevalent among adults (without a history of a depressive disorder) entering alcohol treatment, usually abate within 2 to 3 weeks of abstinence without specific depression-focussed intervention, but some hospitalized alcoholics experience significant depressive symptoms despite sustained abstinence. Such…

Efforts to understand mediating and maintaining factors associated with dysfunction of alcoholics have produced competing explanations and conflicting, overlapping constructs. To clarify the relationship between mental health and attributional patterns among women, the attributional patterns of alcoholic, depressed, and control females in response…

An expanded model of treatment evaluation is presented, and connections to stress and coping theory are examined. Examples are taken from a research program on the long-term outcomes of alcoholism and depression. Implications for assessment and diagnosis, program design and improvement, and stress and coping theory are explored. (SLD)

The expanding population of older women relative to older men or the "feminization of aging" is a significant demographic trend with important implications for the future. Older women are at risk for extended years of widowhood, living alone, institutionalization, poverty, and mental health problems. Although the dementias of late life appear to…