|  | Family Health | Substance Abuse

Risk Factors Among Adult Children of Alcoholics

Adult children of alcoholics suffer from a variety of physical, mental and relational issues as a result of the excessive alcohol consumption by one or both biological parents. The normal challenges of life adjustments as children mature can stress adult children of alcoholics more than those with nonalcoholic parents. Some of these attributes also characterize those who have been physically or sexually abused.

  1. Potential for Alcoholism

    • The biological children of alcoholics are at a two to four times greater risk for becoming alcoholics themselves, according to information provided by the website Encyclopedia. Children of alcoholics learn about types of alcohol and their parent's drinking patterns from an early age. They are also thought to have a biological predisposition toward alcoholism. This increased risk results from both genetic and environmental factors.

    Personal Issues

    • Adult children of alcoholics often suffer from low self-esteem. They may compensate by being overly responsible or by being irresponsible. They also struggle with expressing feelings in general, sometimes over-dramatizing and sometimes minimizing emotions. They may never quite master basic organizational challenges. They may also struggle with a strong need to control events and people around them. They may also be impulsive or not consider all the ramifications before pursuing an action.

    Relationship Struggles

    • Further typical behavior patterns include high expectations and difficulty confronting others. They may also have difficulty relating to authority properly. They can constantly seek the approval of others, suffer from the fear of rejection and worry about what others think about them. They are intimidated by others, take criticism too personally and are overly sensitive. They may choose emotionally unavailable people as partners. They also typically play the victim role, yet enmesh with others and have difficulty with boundaries.

    Considerations

    • However, despite these connections, some studies remain inconclusive. Many other factors also influence the children of alcoholics. Mental health issues or other substance abuse addictions also impact these children. Because of the amount of variables that contribute to the uncertainty when collecting data related to adult children of alcoholics, researchers have admitted challenges drawing strong conclusions based on some of the studies.

Substance Abuse - Related Articles