Coping and resiliency of adult children of alcoholics in an alcoholic family system

Robert Lewis Melcher, Marquette University

Abstract

The problem addressed in this study is the effect that ten million alcoholics in this country have on thirty million people in the family system. The dissertation centers on the affect of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse in the alcoholic family system on coping strategies as children and resiliency as adults. Secondly, the factor of the age of the child at parental recovery from alcoholism and the health of the family system on coping processes as a child and resiliency as an adult. Third studying whether the coping style of the Hero will have more effective coping processes and resiliency than the Scapegoat, Lost Child, Placator or Clown. A series of four scaled instruments together with demographic data were completed by 141 adult volunteers from educational, family, hospital and parish settings in the Midwest with 115 being ACOAs. The instruments included: Children of Alcoholics Screening Test, Ways of Coping Questionnaire, Family Assessment Device, and Self-Control Schedule. An inverse relationship was noted for increases of verbal, physical and sexual abuse on five scales of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire. The age of the child at parental recovery from alcoholism had an inverse relationship to one scale of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire and the Family Assessment Device had a significant negative relationship to one scale on the Ways of Coping Questionnaire and to the Self-Control Schedule. Length of parental Alcoholism was significantly correlated to the Self-Control Scale. The responsible/hero did not have a significant higher score on the Ways of Coping Questionnaire or the Self-Control Scale. Future research may be geared to members of the same family system using a longitudinal study taking into account more scales on the Family Assessment Device.

This paper has been withdrawn.