Tendency toward Controlling Behavior in Adult Children of Problem Drinkers: An Experimental Study

1993 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 691-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hemmings ◽  
Harvey J. Irwin
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Adult Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Problem Drinkers ◽  
Coin Toss ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Coin Tossing ◽  
Controlling Behavior

Several clinicians have remarked on an obsessive need to control among adult children of alcoholics. In an experimental test of this hypothesis 30 adult children of problem drinkers and 31 control subjects performed a computer-simulated coin-tossing task. On half of the trials the outcome of the coin toss was open to control; the outcome was random on the remainder of the trials. The children of problem drinkers and the control group did not differ in their success on the task, but in comparison to control subjects the children of problem drinkers tended to perceive a greater difference between controllable and random trials in the coin-tossing task's openness to control. Of the two groups, the control subjects proved to be more realistic in their assessment of the control they had exercised during the task. These findings are discussed in terms of the theme of control in the lives of the adult children of alcoholics.

scholarly journals REPRESENTATIONS OF “FAMILY PAIN” BY ADULT CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS

2020 ◽  
pp. 83-102
Author(s):  
Anna M. Lutsenko ◽  
Alla S. Spivakovskaya
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Adult Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Emotional State ◽  
Family System ◽  
Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Dysfunctional Family ◽  
Alcoholic Families ◽  
The Family ◽  
Recovery Program

Relevance. The term “family pain” is used in family psychotherapy to refer to the emotional state of dysfunctional family members. Research on this phenomenon in dysfunctional alcoholic families can expand the understanding of the family system and allow us to formulate the goals of psychotherapy with such families. Objective. To investigate the “family pain” experienced by adult children of alcoholics. Methods. The sample consisted of 52 people who were in a recovery program for adult children of alcoholics (ACA), and 50 controls. We implemented a phenomenological analysis of ACA groups, a content analysis of images of “family pain”, and factor analysis of the characteristics of “family pain”. Results. The study showed significant differences between the images of “family pain” experienced by adults who were raised and still live in alcoholic families, by those whose parents were alcoholics and had died by the time of the survey, and by those whose parents were not alcoholics. People who live with their alcoholic parents describe “family pain” as a familiar, long process with effects on the whole family. The experience of “family pain” includes anger, shame, and self-pity. People whose parents were alcoholics and have died describe “family pain” as a feeling of guilt towards their parents and a process of experiencing their parents’ death. The control group had difficulty describing “family pain”, or described it as a process of experiencing their parents’ death. Conclusions. Representations of “family pain” are associated with the subjective meaning of family dysfunction for the participant and the experience of negative emotions in the family.

Traumatic Symptomatology Characteristics of Adult Children of Alcoholics

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy W. Hall ◽  
Raymond E. Webster
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Adult Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Depressive Symptomatology ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Traumatic Experience ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Trauma Symptoms

Traumatic experience symptomatology, resiliency factors, and stress among young adults who had experienced alcoholism within their family of origin were assessed in comparison to adults who as children experienced traumatic life events other than alcoholism and those who indicated neither problem (parental alcoholism or traumatic life event) during their childhood. These three groups were compared on self-report measures of stress, resiliency, depressive symptomatology, and trauma symptoms. Results indicated adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) had more self-reported stress, more difficulty initiating the use of mediating factors in response to life events, and more symptoms of personal dysfunction than the control group. Results suggest ACOAs may develop less effective stress management strategies and present more clinically at-risk patterns of responses than their counterparts.

Alcohol Dependence in Adult Children of Alcoholics: Longitudinal Evidence of Early Risk

1998 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen M. Jennison ◽  
Kenneth A. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Dependence ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Adult Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Heavy Drinking ◽  
Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Comparative Probability ◽  
History Of ◽  
Familial Alcoholism

This study investigates familial alcoholism effects and the comparative probability of risk for alcohol dependence in adult children of alcoholics (ACAs) with a control group of non-ACAs. A cohort of 12,686 young adults from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) is examined over a five-year period and conventional and lineal intergenerational models of alcoholism transmission are assessed. The results of multivariate logistic regression analyses indicate that the risk is relatively greater for male ACAs; sons of alcoholics drink significantly more heavily, experience problems earlier, and develop alcohol dependence more extensively than female ACAs or non-ACAs of either gender. The extent of dependence found in subjects with a lineal history of alcoholism on the father's side of the family, as well as heavy drinking, cigarette smoking and drinking onset in adolescence should be considered as critical predisposing factors of high risk for dependence at later ages. These observations corroborate clinical studies and support a growing body of biopsychosocial research literature.

Psychological Size and Distance in the Relationships of Adult Children of Alcoholics with Their Parents

1995 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
pp. 595-606 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony F. Grasha ◽  
Margot Homan
Keyword(s):  
Adult Children ◽  
Adult Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Control Sample ◽  
Children Of Alcoholics ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Emotional Climate ◽  
Visual Metaphors ◽  
The Relationship

Adult children of alcoholics' ( n = 68) perceptions of their relationships with parents were compared with those of a control sample ( n = 37) to examine independent and joint influences of interpersonal status and affect on family dynamics. Visual metaphors for relationships using circle drawings and a status-affect rating scale from the Grasha-Ichiyama Psychological Size and Distance Scale were employed. Compared with the control group, adult children of alcoholics drew smaller circles to represent themselves, i.e., indicating less interpersonal status, only when assessing their relationships with their fathers. Analyses of status-affect ratings showed that the drawings of smaller circles reflected feeling less competent, i.e., having less personal knowledge and expertise, rather than perceptions of being submissive in the relationship. The distance drawn between the circles of adult children of alcoholics and their parents, i.e., psychological distance, was much larger than that of the control group. Ratings showed that perceptions of a negative emotional climate and submissiveness together accounted for 25% of the unique variance in predicting psychological distance. Perceptions of being submissive, however, were not associated with perceptions of psychological distance among adult children of nonalcoholic parents.

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