Children of Alcoholic Fathers and Recovered Alcoholic Fathers: Personal and Family Functioning

Twenty-one adolescent children of recovered alcoholic fathers and 14 children of alcoholic fathers were compared with 35 sociodemographically matched children on aspects of family and personal adjustment, the parent-child relationship and perceptions of alcoholism. Children of recovered alcoholics and controls rated their families as happier and more trusting, cohesive, secure and affectionate than children of families where father still drank alcohol. Adolescents scored similarly on measures of self-esteem and locus of control, but children of alcoholics were less happy with their lives. The three groups did not differ in their relationships with either parent. Children of alcoholic or recovered alcoholic fathers were less likely to attribute alcoholism to internal causes than controls, however, and were more positive about alcoholics and their recovery.