Parent-child interactions in alcoholic and nonalcoholic families.

A community-recruited sample of alcoholic and nonalcoholic families was videotaped in a standardized play task involving parents and their preschool-aged sons. Microanalyses revealed that alcoholic families had lower dyadic synchrony, that parents were viewed as less able to engage their children, and that the coders liked the control parents and children more. Variations in the parent-child interactions are discussed.