Valarie M. Schroeder

Coping behavior and depressive symptoms in adult children of alcoholics.

This paper examined whether adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) would report more depressive mood symptoms as compared to non-ACOAs, whether coping behaviors differed as a function of ACOA status, and whether specific coping behaviors were related to depressive mood symptoms in ACOAs. Participants were 136 college students categorized as ACOAs and 436 college students categorized as non-ACOAs as determined by scores on the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST; J.W.Jones, The children of alcoholics screening test: test manual. Chicago: Camelot). As compared to non-ACOAs, ACOAs reported significantly more symptoms of depressive mood as measured by the Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman, POMS manual: profile of mood states. San Diego, CA: Edits). On the COPE Inventory (Carver, Scheier, and Weintraub, Assessing coping strategies: a theoretically based approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56:267–283), ACOAs reported higher use of the following coping strategies: Behavior Disengagement, Denial, Focus on and Venting of Emotions, Humor, and Substance Use. For both the ACOA and non-ACOA groups, the use of Positive Reinterpretation and Growth and the use of Planning were significantly associated with fewer depressive symptoms, whereas Mental Disengagement, Focus on and Venting of Emotions, Denial, Behavior Disengagement, Substance Use, and Suppression of Competing Activities were associated with higher depressive mood scores.

Relationships Among Depressive Mood Symptoms and Parent and Peer Relations in Collegiate Children of Alcoholics

Relationships among adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) and parent and peer relations and depressive mood were examined among 136 ACOAs and 436 non-ACOAs. As compared to non-ACOAs, ACOAs reported less positive relationships to mothers, fathers, and peers, and more depressive mood; however, more positive relationships to parents and peers significantly reduced the strength of the association between ACOA categorization and depressive mood. Examination of data from ACOAs alone revealed that maternal alcoholism was related to less positive relationships to their mothers and to their peers; however, paternal alcoholism did not predict the quality of the relationship to fathers, mothers, or peers. Attachment to parents and peers and the gender of the alcohol-abusing parent were associated with depressive symptoms among ACOAs.

Family environment and parent‐child relationships as related to executive functioning in children

The present study examines the associations between family environment, parenting practices and executive functions in normally developing children. One hundred parents of children between the ages of 5 and 12 completed the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions from the Family Environment Scale and the Parent‐Child Relationship Inventory. Family Organisation, Parental Support and Parental Limit Setting were significantly associated with dimensions of children’s executive functions. Specifically, Organisation was significantly associated with the following executive functions: Plan‐Organise, Organisation of Materials, Working Memory, Inhibit, Shift and Monitor; Parental Support was associated with Plan‐Organise, Working Memory and Inhibit; and Limit Setting was associated with Emotional Control, Inhibit, Shift and Monitor. Results suggest the importance of positive family environment and parenting practices in the development of executive functions in normally developing children.

Mothers’ Versus Fathers’ Alcohol Abuse and Attachment in Adult Daughters of Alcoholics

Gender of the alcohol-abusing parent was examined in relation to general and romantic attachment (as measured by the Experiences in Close Relationships—Revised and the Relationship Scales Questionnaire) in female adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs; as indicated by the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test) as compared to non-ACOAs. As compared to non-ACOAs, ACOAs reported more anxious and avoidant behaviors in their romantic relationships. Female participants who suspected their mother of alcohol abuse reported significantly greater avoidance within romantic relationships as compared to those who suspected neither parent of having an alcohol problem. No differences emerged in relation to general attachment.

Mother–Daughter and Father–Daughter Attachment of College Student ACOAs

This 2005 study compared parent–child attachment in 89 American female Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) as compared to 201 non-ACOAs. Women attended a large university in the southeastern United States. Participants categorized as ACOA on the Children of Alcoholics Screen Test (CAST; ) reported significantly more negative affect and less support from their fathers as indicated on the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (). When results were examined by the gender of the alcohol-abusing parent, participants who suspected their fathers were problem drinkers did not differ from non-ACOAs in their attachment to either parent. As compared to non-ACOAs, women who self-identified as daughters of problem-drinking mothers reported poorer attachment both to mothers and fathers.