Psychopathology in Children of Alcoholic and Antisocial Parents

Abstract

In this controlled family study the frequency of psychiatric disorder in children of alcoholic parents was found to be higher than in children of nonalcoholic parents. The rate in children of two alcoholic parents was distinctly higher than in those of one alcoholic parent. Comparison was also made between children of antisocial parents (usually coexisting with alcoholism) and children of parents with alcoholism only; no significant differences in the rates of childhood disorder were found between these two groups. Structured diagnostic interviews independently administered to both parents and children between 6 and 17 years old were used to assess psychopathology in the children. The types of disorders in the children of alcoholic parents reflected a mixed diagnostic picture with the reports of both parents and children yielding similar results.