Adult children of alcoholics and childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse

Abstract

Current clinical literature and a limited amount of empirical evidence suggests that Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) experience long term negative consequences as the result of having been raised in alcoholic homes. Other researchers have demonstrated that there are populations of ACOAs who do not appear to have experienced significant negative outcomes. Researchers have called for studies which investigate factors which contribute to the health or distress of ACOAs. This study investigated the relationship between parental alcoholism and childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. A sample of 205 adults visiting a family medical facility, termed general population, and 85 adults attending 12-step ACOA meetings were participants in this study. Each participant completed the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) (Jones, 1981) and the Adult Inventory of Childhood Abuse (AICA). Utilizing the CAST criteria, 30.2% of the general population and 74.1% of the ACOA 12-Step meeting population were classified as Adult Children of Alcoholics.

Analysis of the results demonstrated that ACOAs identified in the general population experienced significantly more childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse than non-ACOAs in the same population. ACOA participants from 12-Step ACOA meetings reported significantly more childhood emotional and sexual abuse but not more childhood physical abuse than non-ACOAs attending these meetings. When comparing ACOAs identified in the general population to ACOAs identified in 12-Step ACOA meetings it was found that those attending 12-Ste~ meetings reported significantly more childhood emotional abuse and sexual abuse, but not significantly more childhood physical abuse, than ACOAs identified in the general population. A high correlation (.6871) between an increase in reported indicators of parental alcoholism and an increase in reported indicators of childhood abuse was established when studying all 290 participants.

Notes

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Graduation Date

1992

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Priest, Ronnie

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Education

Department

Educational Services

Format

PDF

Pages

109 p.

Language

English

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

Identifier

DP0029779

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Education; Education -- Dissertations, Academic

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