Risk and resilience: Adults who were the children of problem drinkers
- Författare
- Velleman R, Orford J.
- Titel
- Risk and resilience: Adults who were the children of problem drinkers
- Utgivningsår
- 1999
- Stad
- Amsterdam
- Utgivare
- Harwood academic publishers imprint
- Sammanfattning
This welcome text addresses the important issue of what might become of people who are the children of problem drinkers. The authors have produced a lucid and accessible, though extremely scholarly, overview of available factual information, theoretical issues and practical implications related to this fascinating topic. The core of the book is an original study. This builds upon a wealth of evidence suggesting, though not uniformly, that people who are raised by parents at least one of whom is a 'problem drinker', may subsequently be at high risk for alcohol problems or other life problems. The background to the new research is ably set out. Some individual case histories are described at length. Moreover, a comprehensive and critical review of past research is provided. This encompasses epidemiology and a number of theories concerning mechanisms of transmission (e.g. genetic, environmental) of drinking and other behaviours by parents to their children.
The new research that is described was conducted in order to investigate what the consequences might be of being raised by a problem drinker/problem drinkers. The investigation involved a comparison of 164 people aged 16–35 years, who were the offspring of such adults, and a comparison group of 80 people, who were not. These people were interviewed twice, the second interview being conducted one year after the first. There was a good mix of open and closed questions, allowing for the collection of a wealth of information. This enabled the complexity of these relationships to emerge. Not surprisingly, the findings of this investigation were both numerous and quite complex. The offspring of problem drinkers reported more discord and negative experiences, together with less happy and cohesive family lives than the comparison group. Even so, in relation to adult demoralization, disharmony within the family appeared to be a more important variable than parental drinking per se.
More generally, the authors noted that having a parent who drinks in a damaging way may clearly be a predictor of a wide range of personal problems, including heavy/problem drinking or other drug use among their children. However, this is not an inevitable outcome. As noted by the authors '... overall, and with certain exceptions, the children of problem drinking parents studied here, as young adults were as well adjusted as their peers'. This finding is important and, to some readers, will be unexpected. The authors emphasize the wide variations in how young people adjust and react to having a parent who drinks in a harmful way. They also concluded that: 'Positive mental health as a young adult is best predicted by contemporaneously measured variables.'
The practical implications of this study and of other related evidence are considered. It is suggested that the children of problem drinking parents could be advised that they are 'at risk' in certain respects. They acknowledge that this recommendation is debatable from an ethical point of view. They conclude with a plea to break down reluctance to consider the links between the family and alcohol problems and vice versa. Richard Velleman and Jim Orford are to be congratulated for producing a major work. This is likely to remain the key book on this subject for the foreseeable future.