Classified 86 community sample families on basis of father's alcoholism and obtained interview and questionnaire data from parents and adolescent sons. Found that alcoholic families reported significantly more family conflict and less marital satisfaction than did nonalcoholic families. There were more mental disorders diagnosed among children of…

Surveyed 97 adults self-identified as coming from dysfunctional families. Although level of family dysfunction was generally high, no significant differences were observed between adult children of alcoholics and adults from families whose dysfunction was not due to substance abuse. Degree of family dysfunction was significantly associated with…

A junior high school teacher shares the story of a childhood dominated by poverty, family alcoholism, sexual and physical victimization, and haphazard school attendance. Surviving these traumatic experiences (and a teen pregnancy) was not easy. This teacher's background enables her to unearth covering-up strategies used by children trying to…

This book was written for teenagers and older children who have abusive, alcoholic, or mentally ill parents. Emphasis is placed on young people in such situations using their intelligence, understanding that parents are fallible, viewing the future with optimism, facing reality, and seeing the good in other people rather than assuming everyone…

Although alcoholism is increasingly recognized as a family disease, most research looks solely at the alcoholic, or occasionally at the alcoholic's spouse. However, there are a multitude of potential studies regarding the alcoholic family system, parent-child communication, marital communication, and sibling communication in the alcoholic home. To…

This resource guide contains a list of materials for professionals working with children of alcoholics. The information is divided into four sections: (1) prevention materials that include coping with an alcoholic or drug-abusing parent, kids talking to kids, and networking; (2) curricula including learning to live drug free, and resources for the…

This practicum in an elementary school attempted to provide adaptive strategies to children of alcoholic parents so that they would be able to cope effectively with their family problems. It also attempted to develop self-esteem in these children and to help them to recognize their strengths. Biweekly counseling sessions were designed to teach…

Although alcoholism has long been considered a serious problem, the impact of parental alcoholism on children has only recently begun to receive attention from researchers and clinicians. A review of the empirical literature on children of alcoholics was conducted and it was concluded that children raised in an alcoholic family are at increased…

This study investigated the incidence of alcohol and/or drug abuse within families of emotionally disturbed/behaviorally disordered children, and the effectiveness of an alcohol and drug awareness curriculum for these children. Subjects were 116 children, aged 6-15, attending a residential and day treatment center. While 35.3% of the children were…

This document is the text of a Congressional hearing called to examine prevention of alcohol abuse in American families. In her opening statement, Representative Lindy Boggs states that alcohol abuse is related to many problems confronting families including divorce, violence, and behavioral emotional problems and that the purpose of this hearing…

This document contains transcripts of testimony and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing called to examine the effects of alcoholism on children and families. Testimonies are presented from the director of the Alcoholism Control Administration, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; the medical director of the Alcoholism and…

Is there truth in the stereotype of battered women who enjoy being abused and who have a psychological need for abuse? This study of a grass-roots program providing service to battered women presents thought-provoking data on this and other questions related to causes and consequences of domestic violence. (Author)

Recommends that family therapists be aware of the dynamics of the malfunctioning family which affects the process of alcoholism. Describes a family program which is part of a comprehensive alcoholism treatment program. Individual and group intervention address the family problems set in motion by alcoholism. (Author/JAC)

Alcoholic women must receive treatment that considers psychological differences between men and women. The basic difference identified was the kinds of roles taken on by women compared to men's roles. Counselors must integrate women's individual experiences with experimental research to effectively help alcoholic women. (Author/JAC)

Gave Parental Bonding Inventories (PBI) to 173 males and analyzed scores based on the participants' familial risk for alcoholism. Results indicate that fathers of the high familial risk participants were rated by sons as being significantly less caring than the fathers of low familial risk participants. Other findings are reported. (RJM)