Am J Psychiatry 1977; 134:357-365
Copyright © 1977 by American Psychiatric Association
The offspring of alcoholics: a critical review
N El-Guebaly and DR Offord
In their review of the literature on the effects of parental alcoholism on
the offspring of alcoholics, the authors focus on sample collection,
criteria used for the diagnosis of parental alcoholism, and definitions of
"emotional disturbances." Studies are grouped according to age of
offspring; within each age group, the various approaches to the issue are
described. The authors suggest a need for more carefully controlled studies
using blind data collection and clear operational definitions. In addition,
the "risk" status of offspring of alcoholics should be compared to that of
children whose parents have other types of serious psychiatric disturbance.
Although the literature has focused on the "casualties," the authors note
that much could be learned from studies of the "successes"--those children
who do not seem to be at increased risk for pychosocial illness despite the
alcoholism of their parents.
