Life satisfaction and adjustment of children of alcoholics: the effects of parental drinking, family disorganization and survival roles.

The stress paradigm was used to investigate the extent to which parental alcohol dependency, family disorganization ana Black's (1979) and Wegscheider's (1976) survival roles affected the adjustment of children of alcoholics (COAs). The study was cross-sectional based on the responses of a non-random community sample of 112 adolescents. The predictors of life satisfaction differed from the predictors of minor psychiatric symptoms. Parental alcohol dependency had no direct effect on minor psychiatric symptoms, with low family cohesiveness and intimacy being the major determinants of psychopathology. In contrast, parental alcohol dependency and family disharmony had an additive effect on level of life satisfaction. Family variables did not buffer children from the effects of alcohol once they recognized parental drinking as a problem. Nor did the survival roles protect children in any way. Indeed, the roles of the 'lost' child, the 'acting-out' child, and the 'clown' were detrimental to well-being.