The Affects of Alcoholism on Children.
Alcoholism doesn't affect just those with the disease. It affects children by making those born to alcoholic parents more likely to develop mental health problems, use illegal substances, and become alcoholics themselves. Whether alcoholism is diagnosed in parents before, during, or after the child's birth, they are still at a greater risk of developing problems.
Children of alcoholics (COAs) are more likely to acquire mental health problems than children born to non-alcoholics (non-COAs). COAs whose mothers drank during pregnancy were directly exposed to the toxicity of alcohol. Pre-natal alcohol exposure can lead to such problems as Attention Deficit Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder.(Haskins, 24) According to Dr. Peter R. Finn and Alicia Justus, COA's tend to react to stressful stimuli more strongly than non-COAs and exhibit physiological responses associated with heightened tension and anxiety.(Finn & Justus, 284).
A research in alcoholism done by Sher, Wood, Wood, and Raskin found that COA's drink more frequently to "cope", when compared to their friends. Their reasons for using alcohol were to reduce tension, to become more social, and to make activities more interesting. They hypothesize that this could result from a more familiar approach to alcohol, as it presumably had an effect on the early years of the young adults studied.(Sher et al, 570).
Another study showed the relationship between COAs and the use of illegal substances. It was found that COAs used drugs more often than their non-COA peers. The research was evidence that COAs have a "higher rate of growth of substance use."(Chassin et al, 74) It also states that the likeliness of a COA to use drugs is more than twice that of a non-COA.
The same research also showed that COAs appear to be less impaired by alcohol than non-COAs which could predict or forewarn a vulnerability to alcoholism.
