Young adult children of alcoholic, depressed and nondistressed parents.

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Abstract
Objective: Although the study of children of alcoholics (COAs) has been a highly productive line of inquiry within the alcoholism research arena, there is a limited literature on the nature, degree and pervasiveness of drinking and nondrinking outcomes exhibited by COAs as they move into their young adult years. The aim of the current study was to extend earlier work on this topic using a larger and older sample than had been available previously. Method: Both structured telephone interviews and self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain drinking, psychiatric and psychosocial functioning data from 128 (67 female) adult offspring of alcoholic fathers (COAs), 138 (73 male) adult offspring of normal control fathers and 127 (79 female) adult offspring of depressed fathers. Results: Cross-group differences were stronger and more wide-ranging than those found in our earlier analyses, indicating that significantly more COAs than comparison offspring were experiencing serious problems in the areas of drinking, personality/psychopathology and educational/social functioning. Conclusions: The current findings provide further evidence that the risks for COAs might relate specifically to parental alcoholism and its impact on offspring development and not to the combined effects of various parental psychopathologies and/or extreme forms of family instability. When evaluated within the larger COA literature, these data support the assumption that there may be a continuity of adverse effects associated with COAs as they move from adolescence into their young adult years.