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An Annotated Bibliography on Effects of Parental Alcoholism on children

Fogoros, Richard N. “What Are the Potential Impacts of Parental Alcoholism on Children?” Very well Mind, www.verywellmind.com/the-effects-of-parental-alcoholism-on-children-67233.

The article talks of the effects that alcohol may have on children. Author points out that most of the time the alcoholics will often assume that their drinking is affecting no one else aside from them. This however is a myth as children of alcoholics are often greatly affected by their parents drinking. The effects of a child growing around an alcoholic parent has adverse effects some even lasting for a lifetime. The first issue the author brings out in the article is that children of alcoholic parents may not have a good example to emulate. They will often struggle distinguishing which is a good role to emulate and which is a bad one. They may also end up having trust issues as their parents will often promise them something and eventually not fulfill it or forget. They may fear abandonment especially if their parents were not available emotionally for them.

This article is important as it clearly outlines the effect alcoholism has on children. It clearly explains how the issues between the parents and the children of alcoholics may later affect their life including the relationship they may get in, self-esteem and their general interaction. The article is also a conglomeration of works by other authors who have researched on the topic. This helps in my writing as it ensures that my paper just does not have only one way of thinking but rather different take on the subject matter for example he includes a research by Jane Woititiz an author of the book “Adult Children of Alcoholics” to support his assertions. I also chose the paper because it was not biased in explaining the effects of Alcoholism unlike others full of speculation.

Leipholtz, Beth. “How Growing Up In An Alcoholic Home Can Affect Children.” The Recovery Village, 14 July 2017, www.therecoveryvillage.com/alcohol-abuse/children-alcoholics-home/#gref.

The article talks of the difficulty children from alcoholic family go through especially if both parents are alcoholics. The first effect brought out is the psychological effect this alcoholism may have. Children from alcoholic homes may develop certain perspectives on alcohol, their self-worth especially if exposed to abusive behavior. The child may end up blaming themselves if their parents are alcoholic as they feel that it is their fault that their parents are drinking too much. This may not be the case but a child’s brain may actually believe in this and make such assumptions affecting their mental wellbeing. The children may develop anxiety as they are constantly wondering how bad the day may be. If abuse is present, they will constantly wonder if when the parents arrive home if they are going to abuse them either psychologically or physical. Children may constantly feel embarrassed about their home and may not be confident talking with their friends about their home. This may leave them feel left out and lonely. A child may also get into depression especially if there is abuse. The article also looks at effects of alcoholism to children in their adulthood stage including developing trust issues and being unable to form close relationships.

The article uses data from reliable sources to support their article such as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The article clearly outlines the two stages that may be affected when children are alcoholics the first being when children are young and second being when they are in their adulthood. This article points out how these issues persist into adulthood. Through this article, I will able to introduce my line of thought, as it enabled me to address many of the difficulties of internalized oppression because it provided a framework, language and reference. Due to its broad perspectives on effects of parental alcoholism on children, I intend to use it to introduce my paper and also draw some conclusions from it.

Senchak, Marilyn, et al. (2005) “Comparisons of adult children of alcoholic, divorced, and control parents in four outcome domains.” Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 9.3: 147.

The aim of this research was to look at the risk of dysfunction and coping styles of children whose parents were alcoholic or divorced. The theory used was the psychosocial theory. The research involved screening and interviewing the candidates that had been selected. The research use 80 students of married alcoholic father’s nonalcoholic mothers, 80 children of married divorced nonalcoholic parents and 80 children of married nonalcoholic. The findings suggested that the negative outcomes observed among the adult children of alcoholics were not pervasive to paternal alcoholism. The research also established that children of alcoholics, parents presented deliquescence behavior including truancy in school, their performance greatly dropped and they had anger issues when compared to children whose parents were non-alcoholics. They had a major difference in their psychosocial factors including their problem solving appraisal. Parental conflict was reported in alcoholic and divorced parents. Child father relationship was highly disrupted in alcoholic families. There was also evidence of dysfunction in early family environments of children whose parents were alcoholic.

I choose this research because it sought to give insight on the coping strategies that children of alcoholic parents developed. It urges a sustained and varied perspective on how children in alcoholic, normal and divorced backgrounds develop coping strategies. This article was reliable as it used research and works from other authors to support its assertions. There were also measures to ensure the results obtained was not biased but was a true reflection of differences that existed between children whose parents were alcoholics, divorced and those not. This article would help me make a comparison between the behaviors of children depicted by other children and those depicted by children from other family set up. It would also help me seek answers on whether a parent’s alcoholism contributed to the behavior children depicted.

Wlodarczyk, Olga, et al. “Protective mental health factors in children of parents with alcohol and drug use disorders: A systematic review.” PLoS ONE 12.6 (2017).

The article points out how children who grow up seeing their parents get extremely drunk will often develop social as well as psychological problems. While some children may develop coping strategies for their life situation thus having positive development in their mental health, some are unable. The article goes ahead to outline coping strategies that may be employed by the children from alcoholic families. They include use of religion, social support strategies and active planning. These children were also likely to use avoidance where they avoid emotional attachment or avoid bringing up topics related to their parents. The research also incorporates research such as what absence of certain part in the life of their child due to alcoholism may affect them especially increasing their behavioral problem. Children who had alcoholic problems were also likely to have problems internalizing problems.

This article is helpful as it provides awareness of the concept of children developing mental problems due to alcoholic parents. It synthesizes the existing descriptions to give a single but more coherent context. By explaining the effect alcoholism has on children, then proceeding to point out how the children develop coping mechanism to country this, it helps in understanding the psychological impact of alcoholism to children. It contains statistics from prior research on number of children who have portrayed several mental difficulties as a result of their parent’s alcoholism. I picked this scholarly article because of it is a conglomeration of works by many theorists and sociologists on this topic. It includes studies that bring forth new methodological and theoretical bridges hence, bringing different points of view on board.

Works Cited

Fogoros, Richard N. “What Are the Potential Impacts of Parental Alcoholism on Children?” Very well Mind, www.verywellmind.com/the-effects-of-parental-alcoholism-on-children-67233.

Leipholtz, Beth. “How Growing Up In An Alcoholic Home Can Affect Children.” The Recovery Village, 14 July 2017, www.therecoveryvillage.com/alcohol-abuse/children-alcoholics-home/#gref.

Senchak, Marilyn, et al. (2005) “Comparisons of adult children of alcoholic, divorced, and control parents in four outcome domains.” Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 9.3: 147.

Wlodarczyk, Olga, et al. “Protective mental health factors in children of parents with alcohol and drug use disorders: A systematic review.” PLoS ONE 12.6 (2017).