Alcohol abuse and alcoholism within a family can cause distress for all of the members of the household. Exposure to familial alcoholism has been associated with many behavioural and emotional difficulties among children in particular.
Difficulties and behaviours among adolescent children in alcoholic families include:
- Low self-esteem
- Poor academic achievement
- Physical aggression
- Lying
- Stealing
- Skipping school
- Higher levels of depression and anxiety
- Increased involvement in alcohol and drugs
The home environments of children dealing with familial alcoholism are characterized by more marital conflict, parent-child conflict, and child abuse than are the environments of children of nonalcoholics.
Parents with a lifetime history of alcohol abuse are more likely to use harsh physical punishment with their children and they are also more likely to not be monitoring their kids as much and giving them decreased social support.
A sense of isolation is a common theme found consistently with familial alcoholism. These types of families have been found to be more disengaged from one another. Their patterns of behaviour have been observed to be more rigid and inflexible as well.
Intoxicated vs. Sober Phases
There are patterns of behaviour within the family depending on if the alcoholic in the family is intoxicated or sober. It has been proposed that alcohol misuse serves to stabilize and maintain adaptive family functioning. Researchers have found that during episodes of alcohol consumption there was more positive interactions between the family members and these interactions were described as more spontaneous and exaggerated. Following detoxification, family dynamics go back to their more detached interactions.
This does not mean that interactions are always more positive when the alcoholic family member is intoxicated. The interactions between family members can also become more negative. Criticism and disagreement has also been seen when intoxication has occurred and the nonverbal behaviour has been judged to be significantly more negative by their spouses. Healthier family dynamics during sober times are generally reported by these couples.
Researchers have concluded from these findings that the alcohol consumption in these families leads to relative increases in both negative and positive interactions.