Introduction:
Today, there are an estimated 28.6 million Americans who are children of
alcoholics; nearly 11 million are under the age of 20.(1) Seventy-six million
Americans, about 43 percent of the U.S. adult population, have been
exposed to alcoholism in the family. Almost one in five adult Americans
(18 percent) lived with an alcoholic while growing up. Roughly one in
eight American adult drinkers is alcoholic or experiences problems due
to the use of alcohol. Over 675,000 children are seriously maltreated
every year by an alcoholic or drug abusing caretaker, according to the
National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse.(2) The cost of alcoholism
to society is estimated at approximately $166 billion each year.(3)
What is the Impact of Alcoholism on the
Family and Children
The impact of alcoholism is immense:(4)
1. Alcoholism Affects the Entire Family
- Living with a non-recovering alcoholic in the family can contribute to stress
for all members of the family. Each member may be affected differently. Not all
alcoholic families experience or react to this stress in the same way.
- Children raised in alcoholic families have different life experiences
than children raised in non-alcoholic families. Children raised in other
type of dysfunctional families may have similar developmental losses and
stressors as do children raised in alcoholic families.
- Children living with a non-recovering alcoholic score lower on measures of
family cohesion, intellectual-cultural orientation, active-recreational orientation,
and independence. They usually also experience higher levels of conflict within
the family.
- Many children of alcoholics experience other family members as distant
and non-communicative.
- Children of alcoholics may be hampered by their inability to grow in
developmentally healthy ways.
- The level of dysfunction or resiliency of the non-alcoholic spouse is a key
factor in the effects of problems impacting the children.
2. There is Strong, Scientific Evidence
That Alcoholism Tends to Run in the Families. Children of Alcoholics are More
at Risk for Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse Than Children of Non-Alcoholics.
- Alcoholics are more likely than non-alcoholics to have an alcoholic father,
mother, sibling, or other relative. In addition, COAs are more likely than non
COAs to marry into families in which alcoholism is prevalent.
- In research studies, almost one-third of any sample of alcoholics have at
least one parent who also was or is an alcoholic.
3.Based on Clinical Observation and
Preliminary Research, a Relationship Between Parental Alcoholism and Child Abuse
is Indicated in a Large Proportion of Child Abuse Cases.
- Existing research suggests alcoholism is more strongly related to child
abuse than are other disorders, such as parental depression.
4. Alcoholism Usually Has Strong
Negative Effects on Marital Relationships.
- Separated and divorced men and women were three times as likely as married
men and women to say they had been married to an alcoholic or problem drinker.
- Almost two-thirds of separated and divorced women, and almost half of
separated or divorced men, under age 45, have been exposed to alcoholism in
the family at some time.
5. Alcohol is Associated with a Substantial
Proportion of Human Violence, and Perpetrators are Often Under the Influence of Alcohol.
- Alcohol is a key factor in 68 percent of manslaughters, 62 percent of
assaults, 4 percent of murders and attempted murders, 48 percent of robberies
and 44 percent of burglaries.
- Studies of domestic violence frequently document high rates of alcohol and
other drug involvement.
6. Children of Alcoholics Exhibit Symptoms of
Depression and Anxiety More Than Children of Non-Alcoholics.
- Young children often show symptoms of depression and anxiety such as crying,
bed wetting, not having friends, being afraid to go to school, or having
nightmares. Older youth may stay in their rooms for long periods of time and
not relate to other children claiming they have "no one talk to." Teenagers
may show depressive symptoms by being perfectionistic in their endeavors, hoarding,
staying to themselves, and being excessively self-conscious. Teenage COAs may begin
to develop phobias.
7. Children of Alcoholics Experience Higher
Health Care Cost Than Children From Non-Alcoholic Families.
- Inpatient admission rate for substance abuse is triple that of other children.
- Inpatient admission rate for mental disorders is almost double that of other children.
- Injuries are more than 1½ times greater than that of other children.
- The rate of total health care costs for children of alcoholics is 32 percent greater than children from non-alcoholic homes.
- Children of alcoholics are admitted to hospitals at a 24 percent greater rate.
- Children of alcoholics stay in the hospital 29 percent longer, on average.
- Children of alcoholics have 36 percent times higher rate of in-patient hospital costs.
8. Children of Alcoholics Score Lower on
Tests Measuring Verbal Ability.
- COAs tend to score lower on tests that measure cognitive and verbal
skills. Their ability to express themselves may be impaired, which can impede
school performance, peer relationships, ability to develop and sustain
intimate relationships, and hamper performance on job interviews.
- Low verbal scores, however, do not imply that COAs are intellectually impaired.
9. Children of Alcoholics Often Have
Difficulties in School.
- COAs often believe that they will be failures even if they do well
academically. They often do not see themselves as successful.
- COAs are more likely to be truant, drop out of school, repeat grades, or
be referred to a school counselor or psychologist. This may have little to do
with academic ability; rather, COAs may have difficulty bonding with teachers,
other students and school; they may experience anxiety related to performance;
or they may be afraid of failure. The actual reasons have yet to be determined.
10. Children of Alcoholics Have Greater
Difficulty With Abstraction and Conceptual Reasoning.
- Abstraction and conceptual reasoning play an important role in problem
solving, whether the problems are academic or are situations related to the
problems of life. Therefore, children of alcoholics may require very
concrete instructions.
What Can Coalitions do to Better Address
the Needs of Children of Alcoholics
- There is much work that can be done by community-based coalitions to meet
the needs of children of alcoholics. As in other focuses of substance abuse and
violence, every sector of the community has a role it can play. This role has
four primary facets.(5)
Role One:
Teach and Raise Awareness About
Children of Substance Abusers.
Each sector of the community can participate in creating a better understanding
of children of alcoholics and the issues associated with them, i.e., businesses
to their employees, religious institutions to their congregations, volunteer
organizations to their memberships, schools to students, faculty and staff,
scout leaders to their members, pediatricians to their patients, etc. Establish
libraries of readings and materials for COAs and those interested in helping them.
Role Two:
Assist in the Early Identification of and
Intervention with Children of Substance Abusers.
The number of children identified and helped effectively will increase
greatly if each of the systems within the community is taught how to identify
and deal with children of alcoholics. Children and young people behave
differently depending upon the system they are operating within.
For example, The National Association for the Children of Alcoholics, with
a panel of medical experts, has authored "Core Competencies for Involvement
of Health Care Providers in the Care of Children and Adolescents in Families
Affected by Substance Abuse." (Note: for a copy, contact The National
Association for Children of Alcoholics at 11426 Rockville Pike, Suite 100,
Rockville, Maryland 20852; (301)468-0985 or (888) 55-4COAS;
http://ncadi.samhsa.gov)
The three levels of competencies address:
Level One: All health professionals with clinical responsibility
for the care of children and adolescents.
Level Two: Health care providers accepting responsibility for
prevention, assessment, intervention and coordination of care of children
and adolescents in families with substance abuse.
Level Three: Health care providers accepting responsibility for
long-term treatment of children in families affected by substance abuse.
NACoA has also developed kits of materials regarding children of alcoholics
for use by educators, parents, youth, therapists, and religious
organizations. Make sure your coalition is aware of the up-to-date
competencies and skills needed to effectively identify and intervene
with COAs. Make sure that these competencies are stressed locally and
help the various sectors develop institutionalized trainings for their
professionals in how to identify and deal with COAs. Consider holding
coalition-sponsored multi-disciplinary trainings on COA competencies.
Role Three:
Support Positive Changes in Behavior.
Children of alcoholics may benefit from adult efforts which help them to:
- Develop autonomy and independence.
- Develop a strong social orientation and social skills.
- Engage in acts of "required helpfulness."
- Develop a close bond with a caregiver.
- Cope successfully with emotionally hazardous experiences.
- Develop and maintain a positive vision of life.
- Develop coping strategies for day-to-day and unusual situations they may face.
and
- Maintain consistency around important family activities ("rituals"),
such as vacations, mealtimes, or holidays -- they are protective for some
alcoholics families.
- If the active alcoholic is confronted with his/her problem, if healthy family
rituals or traditions are highly valued, if there are consistent significant others
in the life of the child or children, and if there is moderate to high religious
observance, children can be protected from many of the problems associated with
growing up in an alcoholic family.
When developing and/or supporting prevention and intervention programs within
the community, keep these points in mind. Examples of programs which can offer
such types of support include those provided by alcohol and other drug
professionals, physicians, school support groups, mentoring programs, coalitions
which maintain a list of appropriate community-wide referrals and support
groups for COAs, summer camps for COAs offered by religious organizations
and various volunteer organizations.
Children of alcoholics can be thrown into further chaos once parents
begin or continue treatment and rehabilitation if their specific needs are
not addressed. Coalitions can help inventory the community resources
dedicated to meeting the needs of COAs and help fill programmatic voids.
Role Four:
Become a Local Affiliate of the
National Association for the Children of Alcoholics
The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACoA), a partner of
CADCA, was founded in 1983 and currently is the only national nonprofit
membership organization working on behalf of children of alcoholics. NACoA
defines children of alcoholics as those people who have been impacted by the
alcoholism or other drug dependence of a parent or another adult filling the
parental role.(6)
An affiliate can be any organization of people with a commitment to the
mission of NACoA on a state or local level. Affiliates are represented on
the NACoA Board of Directors through the office of the membership vice
president. Affiliates have special group discounts on publications,
audio-visuals and other educational materials, and reduced registration
fees at conferences for its members.
The National Association for Children of Alcoholics produces educational
materials to enable adults to help COAs. Resources available through NACoA
include a variety of curricular packages, including videos, posters, and
guides for teachers, therapists, the clergy and other professionals who
work with children. Your coalition should become familiar with these
resources. As in other prevention and intervention work, the use of
age-appropriate COA materials is crucial.
YOUR COALITION IS AN IMPORTANT PLAYER IN WORKING WITH AND SUPPORTING CHILDREN
OF ALCOHOLICS. JOIN WITH THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ACROSS THE U.S. WHO ARE
WORKING TO BETTER HELP CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS!
Call 1-888-55-4COAS for information on affiliates and available resources.
Consider:
- Sponsor public awareness campaigns/events regarding COAs and the interface
of COA environments with child abuse, neglect, domestic violence, future abuse,
increased health care costs, educational ramifications, etc.
- Speak to various institutions having interaction with as well as
clinical interaction with COAs to make sure they have the basis of
knowledge of COAs, age-appropriate materials for working with COAs,
a knowledge of the resources available to them to work with COAs, an
understanding of the competencies needed to work successfully with
COAs, etc.
- Set up resource centers for COAs and for those who work with them.
- Develop/support programs for COAs to fill any local programmatic gaps in services.
- Target coalition prevention programming to COAs.
- Convene multi-discliplinary, multi-jurisdictional groups locally to discuss
the impact of COA-related ramifications within the community and work with each
sector of the community on plans to help intervene with and prevent COAs.
Good luck!
Other National Resources on Children of
Alcoholics
National Association for Children of Alcoholics
11426 Rockville Pike, Suite 100
Rockville, MD 20852
(888) 55-4COAS
www.nacoa.org
National Association for Native American
Children of Alcoholics
1402 Third Avenue, Suite 1110
Seattle, Washington 98101
(800) 322-5601
http://www.whitebison.org/nanacoa/
National Black Alcoholism/Addictions Council
1629 K Street, N.W., Suite 802
Washington, D.C. 20006
(202) 296-2696
Information about self-help groups for Children of Alcoholics:
Al-Anon/Alateen
1600 Corporate Landing Parkway
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
(800) 356-9996
http://www.al-anon.org;
http://www.al-anon.alateen.org
Information about alcohol/other drug prevention
For volunteers, professionals and the general public:
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
P.O.Box 2345
Rockville, Maryland 20852
(8000 729-6686
http://ncadi.samhsa.gov
Information about alcoholism and local referral resources:
National Council on Alcoholism
And Drug Dependence
12 West 21st Street
New York, NY 10010
(800) NCA-CALL
http://www.ncadd.org
Footnotes:
1 Children of Alcoholics. National Association of Broadcasters with the
assistance of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics. Washington,
D.C. Page 1.
2 Network. The newsletter of the National Association for Children of
Alcoholics, Rockville, Maryland. Summer, 1997, page 5.
3 National Association for Children of Alcoholics. Children of
Alcoholics: Important Facts. November 1995.
4 Children of Alcoholics: Important Facts. The National Association for
Children of Alcoholics. November, 1995.
5 Network. The newsletter of the National Association for Children of
Alcoholics, The Community and the COA, James Crowley. Special Edition. Page 3.
6 Network. The newsletter of the National Association for Children of
Alcoholics. Summer, 1997. Vol. 13/No.3.
Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America is a membership-driven organization
put in place to give anti-drug and drug-related violence coalitions technical
assistance and support.
The purpose of the Strategizer Technical Assistance Manuals is to provide
step-by-step guidance on a various topics relevant to the work you do in
your community each day. We know you are busy, so Strategizers are designed
to be easy-to-use guidance that help to streamline the planning process.
Strategizers cover such topics as long-range planning, board and
staff development, development of media strategies, marketing planning,
fundraising for coalition operations and programs, methods for engaging
hard-to reach populations, and more. For a current list of Strategizer
Technical Assistance Manuals or for additional technical assistance on
the topic cover in this Strategizer, contact the CADC staff by writing to:
901 North Pitt Street, Suite 300
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
Or call toll-free: 1-800-54-CADCA
Please notify CADCA regarding the technical assistance needs you to may
have. Your coalition is on the front line against the ravages of drugs,
alcohol and violence.
Keep up the good work!
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO REPRODUCE STRATEGIZERS
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