Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Problem drinking and relatives

  • Chapter
Mapping the Social Consequences of Alcohol Consumption

Abstract

Attention to the negative effects of excessive alcohol is currently accorded largely to the drinker and very much less to the drinker’s immediate relatives. Historically, however, images of distressed families were what to a large extent contributed to the founding of the temperance movements and the attempts at treatment that occurred in the first half of the 20th century [l]. The progressive introduction of state welfare systems in a number of countries has perhaps helped to modify the more extreme aspects of the experiences of the immediate relatives of heavy drinkers, but what we know at present about their situation still gives cause for concern.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Appel, C. (1991) Alkohol und Gesellschaft: Zur Relevanz und Aktualität der amerikanischen Temperenzbewegung, Lambertus, Freiburg.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Clark, W.B. and Midanik, L. (1982) Alcohol use and alcohol problems among US adults: results of the 1979 survey, in National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, ed.: Alcohol and Health, US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, MD, pp. 3–52 (Monograph 1).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Wilsnack, S.C., Wilsnack, R.W. and Klassen. A.D. (1986) Epidemiological research on women’s drinking, 1978-1984, in National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, ed.: Women and Alcohol: Health Related Issue, US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Rockville, MD, pp. 1–68 (Research Monograph 16).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Godfrey, C. (1994) Economic influences on change in population and personal substance behaviour, in Addiction: Processes of Change (eds G. Edwards and M. Lader ), Oxford Medical Publications, Oxford, pp. 163 – 187.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Rice, N., Carr-Hill, R., Dixon, P. and Sutton, M. (1998) The influence of households on drinking behaviour: a multilevel analysis. Social Science and Medicine 46 (8), 971 – 979.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Leonard, K.E. and Rothbard, J.C. (1999) Alcohol and the marriage effect. Journal of Studies on Alcohol Suppl. No 13, 139 – 146.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Eurocare. (1998) Alcohol Problems in the Family: A Report of the European Union, Eurocare, St Ives, Cambridgeshire.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Nadeau, L. (1990) Vivre avec l’alcool: la consommation, les effets, les abus [Living with alcohol: consumption, consequences, misuse], Les Éditions de l’Homme, Montréal.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Miller, B.A. and Downs, W.R. (1993) The impact of family violence on the use of alcohol by women. Alcohol World and Health Research 17 (2), 137 – 143.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Barber, J.G. and Gilbertson, R. (1999) The drinker’s children. Substance Use and Misuse 34 (3). 383 – 402.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Lund, C.A. and Landesman-Dwyer, S. (1979) Pre-delinquent and disturbed adolescents: the role of parental alcoholism, in Currents in Alcoholism (ed. M. Galanter ), Grune and Stratton, New York, pp. 339 – 348.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Kuperman, S., Schlosser, S.S., Lidral, J. and Reich, W. (1999) Relationship of child psychopathology to parental alcoholism and antisocial personality disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 38 (6), 686 – 692.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Bennett, L.A., Wolin, S.J. and Reiss, D. (1988) Cognitive, behavioral, and emotional problems among school-age children of alcoholic parents. American Journal of Psychiatry 145 (2), 185 – 190.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Maynard, S. (1997) Growing up in an alcoholic family system: the effect on anxiety and differentiation of self. Journal of Substance Abuse 9, 161 – 170.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Reich, W., Earls, F., Frankel, O. and Shayka, J.J. (1993) Psychopathology in children of alcoholics. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry 32, 995 – 1002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Johnson, J.L. and Leff, M. (1999) Children of substance abusers: overview of research findings. Pediatrics 103 (5 Pt 2), 1085 – 1099.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Reich, W. (1997) Prospective studies of children of alcoholic parents. Alcohol Health and Research World 21 (3), 255 – 257.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Sher, K.J. (1991) Children of Alcoholics: A Critical Appraisal of Theory and Research, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Larkby, C. and Day, N. (1997) The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. Alcohol Health and Research World 21 (3), 192 – 198.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Abel, E.L. and Sokol, R.J. (1991) A revised conservative estimate of the incidence of FAS and its economic impact. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 15, 514 – 524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Little, B.B., Snell, L.H., Rosenfeld, C.R., Gilstrap, L.C. III and Gant, N.F. (1990) Failure to recognize fetal alcohol syndrome in newborn infants. American Journal of Diseases of Children 144, 1142 – 1164.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Sampson, P.D., Streissguth, A.P., Bookstein, F.L. et al. (1997) Incidence of fetal alcohol syndrome and prevalence of alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder [see comments]. Teratology 56 (5), 317 – 326.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Robertson, B.E. (1993) Alcohol Disabilities Primer: a Guide to Physical and Psychosocial Disabilities Caused by Alcohol Use, CRC Press, Boca Raton/Ann Arbor/ London/Tokyo.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Stromland, K. and Hellstrom, A. (1996) Fetal alcohol syndrome - an ophthalmological and socioeducational prospective study. Pediatrics 97 (6 Pt 1), 845 – 850.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Steinhausen, H.C. and Spohr, H.L. (1998) Long-term outcome of children with fetal alcohol syndrome: psychopathology, behavior, and intelligence. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 22 (2), 334 – 338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Loser, H., Bierstedt, T. and Blum, A. (1999) [Fetal alcohol syndrome in adulthood. A long-term study]. Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift 124(14), 412–418.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Wang, C.T. and Daro, D. (1998) Current Trends in Child Abuse Reporting and Fatalities: The Results of the 1997 Annual Fifty State Survey, National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, Chicago, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Young, N.K. (1997) Effects of alcohol and other drugs on children. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 29 (1), 23 – 42.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Magura, S. and Laudet, A.B. (1996) Parental substance abuse and child maltreatment: review and implications for intervention. Children and Youth Services Review 18 (3), 193 – 220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Velleman, R. and Orford, J. (1990) Young adult offspring of parents with drinking problems: recollections of parents’ drinking and its immediate effects. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 29 (3), 297 – 317.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Orford, J. (1990) Alcohol and the family: an international review of the literature with implications for research and practice, in Research Advances in Alcohol and Drug Problems (eds L.T. Kozlowski, H.M. Annis, H.D. Cappell, et al.), Plenum Press, New York/London, pp. 81 – 155.

    Google Scholar 

  32. West, M.O. and Prinz, R.J. (1987) Parental alcoholism and childhood psychopathology. Psychological Bulletin 102 (2), 204 – 218.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Cork, R.M. (1969) The Forgotten Children, Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Lynskey, M.T., Fergusson, D.M. and Horwood, L.J. (1994) The effect of parental alcohol problems on rates of adolescent psychiatric disorders. Addiction 89, 1277–1286.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Drake, R.E. and Vaillant, G.E. (1988) Predicting alcoholism and personality disorder in a 33-year longitudinal study of children of alcoholics. British Journal of Addiction 83, 799 – 807.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Black, C., Bucky, S.F. and Wilder-Padilla, S. (1986) The interpersonal and emotional consequences of being an adult child of an alcoholic. The International Journal of the Addictions 21 (2), 213 – 231.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Belliveau, J.M. and Stoppard, J.M. (1995) Parental alcohol abuse and gender as predictors of psychopathology in adult children of alcoholics. Addictive Behaviors 20 (5), 619 – 625.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Sher, K.J. (1997) Psychological characteristics of children of alcoholics. Alcohol Health and Research World 21 (3), 247 – 254.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Windle, M. (1997) Concepts and issues in COA research. Alcohol Health and Research World 21 (3), 185 – 191

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Jennison, K.M. and Johnson, K.A. (1998) Alcohol dependence in adult children of alcoholics: longitudinal evidence of early risk. Journal of Drug Education 28 (1), 1937.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Pollock, V.E., Schneider, L.S., Gabrielli, W.F. and Goodwin, D.W. (1987) Sex of parent and offspring in the transmission of alcoholism: a meta-analysis. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 173, 668 – 673.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Light, J.M., Irvine, K.M. and Kjerulf, L. (1996) Estimating genetic and environmental effects of alcohol use and dependence from a national survey: a `quasi-adoption’ study. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 57 (5), 507 – 520.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Sigvardsson, S., Bohman, M. and Cloninger, C.R. (1996) Replication of the Stockholm Adoption Study of alcoholism. Confirmatory cross-fostering analysis. Archives of General Psychiatry 53 (8), 681 – 687.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. McGue, M. (1997) A behavioral-genetic perspective on children of alcoholics. Alcohol Health and Research World 21 (3), 210 – 217.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Ellis, D.A., Zucker, R.A. and Fitzgerald, H.E. (1997) The role of family influences in development and risk. Alcohol Health and Research World 21 (3), 218 – 226.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Johnson, V. and Pandina, R. (1991) Effects of the family environment on adolescent substance use, delinquency and coping styles. American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 17, 71 – 88.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Zucker, R.A., Ellis, D.A., Bingham, C.R. and Fitzgerald, H.E. (1996) The development of alcoholic subtypes: risk variation among alcoholic families during the early childhood years. Alcohol Health and Research World 20, 46 – 54.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Neighbors, B.D., Forehand, R. and Bau, J.J. (1997) Interparental conflict and relations with parents as predictors of young adult functioning. Development and Psychopathology 9 (1), 169 – 187.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Wills, T.A., Mariani, J. and Filer, M. (1996) The role of family and peer relationships in adolescent substance use, in Handbook of Social Support and the Family (eds C.R. Pierce, B.R. Sarason and LG. Sarason ), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 521 – 549.

    Google Scholar 

  50. Wolfinger, N.H. (1998) The effects of parental divorce on adult tobacco and alcohol consumption. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 39 (3), 254 – 269.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  51. Holmila, M. (1997) Family roles and being a problem drinker’s intimate other. European Addiction Research 3 (1), 37 – 42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Treadway, D. (1990) Codependency: disease, metaphor or fad? Family Therapy Networker 14(1), 39–42.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Rosenbaum, A. and O’Leary, K.D. (1981) Children: the unintended victims of marital violence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 51, 692 – 699.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Telch, C. and Lindquist, C. (1984) Violent versus nonviolent couples: a comparison of patterns. Psychotherapy 21, 242 – 248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Van Hasselt, V.B., Morrison, R.L. and Bellack, A.S. (1985) Alcohol use in wife abusers and their spouses. Addictive Behaviors 10, 127 – 135.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Leonard, K.E., Bromen, E.J., Parkinson, D.K., Day, N.L. and Ryan, C.M. (1985) Patterns of alcohol use and physically aggressive behavior. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 46, 279 – 282.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Miller, B.A. (1990) The interrelationships between alcohol and drugs and family violence, in Drugs and Violence: Causes, Correlates, and Consequences (eds M. De La Rosa, E.Y. Lambert and B. Gropper), US Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, M., National Institute on Drug Abuse, pp. 177–207 (NIDA Research Monograph 103 ).

    Google Scholar 

  58. Yegidis, B.L. (1992) Family violence: contemporary research findings and practice issues. Community Mental Health Journal 28, 519 – 530.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  59. Gayford, J.J. (1975) Wife battering: a preliminary study of 100 cases. British Medical Journal 1, 194 – 197.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Dobash, R.E. and Dobash, R.P. (1987) Violence toward wives, in Coping with Disorder in the Family (ed. J. Orford), Croom Helm, London, pp. 608–622 (2).

    Google Scholar 

  61. Pernanen, K. (1991) Alcohol in Human Violence, Guilford Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Leonard, K.E. and Roberts, L.J. (1996) Alcohol in the early years of marriage. Alcohol Health and Research World 20 (3), 192 – 196.

    Google Scholar 

  63. Kreutzer, J.S., Schneider, H.G. and Myatt, C.R. (1984) Alcohol, aggression and assertiveness in men: dosage and expectancy effects. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 45 (3), 275 – 278.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Bates, L., Smutzler, N. and Sandin, E. (1997) A brief review of the research on husband violence. 1. Maritally violent versus nonviolent men. Aggression and Violent Behavior 2 (1), 65 – 99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. Maffli, E. and Bahner, U. (1999) Domestic Violence and Alcohol in Helpline Calls, Paper presented at the 25th Annual Alcohol Epidemiology Symposium of the Kettil Bruun Society, Montreal.

    Google Scholar 

  66. Caces, M.F., Harford, T.C., Williams, G.D. and Hanna, E.Z. (1999) Alcohol consumption and divorce rates in the United States. Journal of Studies on Alcohol 60 (5), 647 – 652.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  67. Burns, A. (1984) Perceived causes of marriage breakdown and conditions of life. Journal of Marriage and the Family 46, 551 – 562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Straus, R. and Bacon, S.D. (1951) Alcoholism and social stability: a study of occupational integration in 2023 male clinic patients. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol 12, 231 – 260.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Levinger, G. (1966) Sources of marital dissatisfaction among applicants for divorce. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 36, 803 - 807.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Hedri, A. (1971) [Marital crises in prosperous families]. Zeitschrift far Psychotherapie und medizinische Psychologie 21, 35 – 38.

    Google Scholar 

  71. Leonard, K.E. and Roberts, L.J. (1998) Marital aggression, quality, and stability in the first year of marriage: findings from the Buffalo Newlywed Study, in The Developmental Course of Marital Dysfunction (ed. T.N. Bradbury ), Cambridge University Press, New York, pp. 44 – 73.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  72. Romelsjö, A., Lazarus, N.B., Kaplan, G.A. and Cohen, R.D. (1991) The relationship between stressful life situations and changes in alcohol consumption in a general population sample. British Journal of Addiction 86 (2), 157 – 169.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Power, C., Rodgers, B. and Hope, S. (1999) Heavy alcohol consumption and marital status: disentangling the relationship in a national study of young adults. Addiction 94 (10), 1477 – 1487.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. E. Maffli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social Planning and Social Management, University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland

    Harald Klingemann

  2. Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Gerhard Gmel

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Maffli, E. (2001). Problem drinking and relatives. In: Klingemann, H., Gmel, G. (eds) Mapping the Social Consequences of Alcohol Consumption. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9725-8_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9725-8_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5626-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9725-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation