Intergenerational family relationships as perceived by adult children of alcoholics

The primary objective of this study was to determine whether parental alcoholism significantly altered intergenerational relationship variables between parents and offspring. The intergenerational variables of fusion/individuation, intimacy, triangulation, intimidation, and personal authority were investigated.

One hundred and ninety-five university undergraduates responded to a written questionnaire. Each participant signed a consent form, completed the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST), the Personal Authority in the Family System Questionnaire Version C (PAFS-QVC), and a demographic questionnaire. Based on CAST scores, subjects were divided into 44 Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) and 151 Adult Children of NonAlcoholics (NonACOAs).

Demographic data indicated that the overall sample was primarily composed of White, middle class, unmarried, undergraduates with a gender distribution of slightly more females than males. The ACOA group was represented by a two to one ratio of females to males, the majority of alcoholic parents were identified as male, the mean age for the ACOA's first awareness of parental alcoholism was 11.22 years, and the majority of ACOAs recognized parental alcoholism as being disruptive to the home environment.

Multivariate analyses revealed that ACOAs differed from nonACOAs on the five dependent variables. Specifically, lower levels of intimacy and triangulation, along with an apparent trend towards lower levels of individuation were found within the parent-child relationship. The independent variables of offspring's gender, offspring's age at earliest awareness of parental alcoholism, offspring’s perceived home effect of parental alcoholism, and nonalcoholics parent's perceived home effect of parental alcoholism did not have a significant impact on the intergenerational dependent variables.