This study examined the relationship between elementary school-aged children's self-reports of major life stressors and symptomatology using an epidemiological survey of all fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students in an inner-city school district. A sample consisting of 755 children was divided into five risk groups: (a) no risk, (b) parental divorce, (c) parental death, (d) children concerned about parental drinking, and (e) multiple risk Participants responded to questions regarding major family stressors, mental health outcomes, and potential mediators of the stress process. Multivariate analyses revealed a significant effect for risk status. In general, the parental drinking and multiple risk groups demonstrated more problems than did their no risk and parental divorce peers. There were no significant differences between the no risk and divorce groups on any of the measures. Also, the parental drinking and multiple risk groups did not differ significantly from one another.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Achenbach, T. M.
(1978). The child behavior profile: 1. Boys aged 6-1 1. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 478-488.
2.
Achenbach, T. M.
, & Edelbrock, C. S. (1983). Manual for the child behavior checklist and revised child behavior profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
3.
Bank, B. J.
, Biddle, B. J., Anderson, D. S., Hauge, R., Keats, J. A., Marlin, M. M., & Valantin, S. (1985). Comparative research on the social determinants of adolescent drinking. Social Psychology Quarterly, 48, 164-177.
4.
Baraga, D. J.
(1978). Self-concept in children of alcoholics. Dissertation Abstracts International, 39, 368B. (University Microfilms No. 78-101312).
5.
Barnes, G. M.
, Farrell, M. P., & Cairns, A. (1986). Parental socialization factors and adolescent drinking behavior. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, 27-36.
6.
Beardslee, W. R.
, Son, L., & Vaillant, G. E. (1986). Exposure to parental alcoholism during childhood and outcomes in adulthood: A prospective longitudinal study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 149, 584-591.
7.
Bennett, L. A.
, & Wolin, S. J. (1985, April}. A comparison of children from alcoholic and nonalcoholic families: Cognitive and psychosocial functioning. Paper presented at the National Council on Alcoholism Meeting, Washington, DC.
8.
Biek, J. E.
(1981). Screening test for identifying adolescents adversely affected by a parental drinking problem. Journal of Adolescent Health Care, 2, 107-113.
9.
Bower, E. M.
(1969). Early identification of emotionally handicapped children in school (2nd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas.
10.
Brown, S. A.
, Creamer, V. A., & Stetson, B. A. (1987). Adolescent alcohol expectancies in relation to personal and parental drinking patterns. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 96, 117-121.
11.
Chafetz, M.
, Blane, H., & Hill, M. (1971). Children of alcoholics: Observations in the child guidance clinic. Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 32, 687-698.
12.
Christiansen, B. C.
, Smith, G. T., Roehling, P., & Goldman, M. S. (1989). Using alcohol expectancies to predict adolescent drinking behavior after one year. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 93-99.
13.
Clair, D.
, & Genest, M. (1987). Variables associated with the adjustment of offspring of alcoholic fathers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 345-355.
14.
Clark, W. B.
, & Midanik, L. (1982). Alcohol use and alcohol problems among U. S. adults: Results of the 1979 National Survey. In U. S. Department of Health Monograph No. 1: Alcohol consumption and related problems (DHHS Publication No. ADM82-1190). Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office.
15.
Compas, B. E.
(1987). Coping with stress during childhood and adolescence. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 393-403.
16.
Cook, C.
(1986). The Youth Self-Report Hostility Scale. Unpublished manuscript. Program for Prevention Research, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
17.
Diehlman, T. E.
, Shope, J. T., Butchart, A. T. & Campanelli, P. C. (1986). Prevention of adolescent alcohol misuse: An elementary school program. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 11, 259-282.
18.
Diehlman, T. E.
, Shope, J. T., Butchart, A. T. & Campanelli, P. C. (1987). Elementary school-based prevention of adolescent alcohol misuse. Pediatrician, 14, 70-76.
19.
El-Guebaly, N.
(1983). The offspring of alcoholics: Outcome predictors. Journal of Children in Contemporary Society, 15, 3-12.
20.
Ellwood, L.
(1980). Effects of alcoholism as a family illness on child behavior and development. Military Medicine, 145, 188-192.
21.
Emshoff, J. G.
(in press). A preventive intervention with children of alcoholics. Prevention in Human Services.
22.
Felner, R. D.
, Ginter, M. A., Boike, M. F., & Cowen, E. L. (1981). Parental death and the school adjustment of young children. American Journal of Community Psychology, 9, 181-191.
23.
Felner, R. D.
, Stolberg, A., & Cowen, E. L. (1975). Crisis events and school mental health referral patterns of young children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 43, 305-310.
24.
Goldfarb, A.
(1963). Teacher ratings in psychiatric case finding. I. Methodological considerations. American Journal of Public Health, 53, 1919-1927.
25.
Harter, S.
(1982). The perceived competence scale for children. Child Development, 53, 87-97.
26.
Harter, S.
(1985). Manual for the Self-Perception Profile for Children. Denver: University of Denver.
27.
Heller, K.
, Sher, K. J., & Benson, C. S. (1982). Problems associated with risk overprediction in studies of offspring of alcoholics: Implications for prevention. Clinical Psychology Review, 2, 183-200.
28.
Hetherington, E. M.
, Cox, M., & Cox, R. (1982). Effects of divorce on parents and children. In M. Lamb (Ed.) Nontraditional families: Parenting and child development (pp. 233-288). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
29.
Jacob, T.
, & Leonard, K. (1986). Psychosocial functioning in children of alcoholic fathers, depressed fathers and control fathers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 47, 373-380.
30.
Kaffman, M.
, & Elizur, E. (1983). Bereavement responses of kibbutz and nonkibbutz children following the death of a father. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24, 435-442.
31.
Kazdin, A. E.
, Esveldt-Dawson, K., & Loar, L. L. (1983). Correspondence of teacher ratings and direct observations of classroom behavior of psychiatric inpatient children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychiatry, 11, 549-564.
32.
Kovacs, M.
(1985). The children's depression inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacological Bulletin, 21, 995-999.
33.
Lobovits, D. A.
, & Hendal, P. J. (1985). Childhood depression: Prevalence using DSM-III criteria and validity of parent and child depression scales. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 10, 45-54.
34.
Long, N.
, & Forehand, R. (1987). The effects of parental divorce and parental conflict on children: An overview. Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 8, 292-296.
35.
Mann, L. M.
, Chassin, L.,, & Sher, K. J. (1987). Alcohol expectancies and the risk for alcoholism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 411-417.
36.
Mayer, J.
, & Filstead, W. J. (1979). The Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale: An instrument for measuring adolescents' use and misuse of alcohol. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 40, 291-300.
37.
Mechanic, D.
& Hansell, S. (1989). Divorce, family conflict, and adolescents' well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 30, 105-116.
38.
Miller, D.
, & Jang, M. (1977). Children of alcoholics: A 20 year longitudinal study. Social Work Research and Abstracts, 13, 23-29.
39.
Moos, R. H.
, & Billings, A. G. (1982). Children of alcoholics during the recovery process: Alcoholics and matched control families. Addictive Behaviors, 7, 155-163.
40.
Parish, T. S.
, & Taylor, J. C. (1979). The impact of divorce and subsequent father absence on children's and adolescents' self-concepts. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 8, 427-432.
41.
Pilat, J. M.
, & Jones, J. W. (1984-1985). Identification of children of alcoholics: Two empirical studies. Alcohol Health and Research World, 9, 27-33, 36.
42.
Roosa, M. W.
, Gensheimer, L. K., Short, J. L., Ayers, T. S., & Shell, R. (1989). A preventive intervention for children in alcoholic families: Results of a pilot study. Family Relations, 38, 295-300.
43.
Roosa, M. W.
, Sandler, I. N., Beals, J., & Short, J. L. (1988a). Risk status of adolescent children of problem drinking parents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 225-239.
44.
Roosa, M. W.
, Sandler, I. N., Gehring, M., Beals, J., & Cappo, L. (1988b). The children of alcoholics life events schedule: A stress scale for children of alcohol abusing parents. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 49, 422-429.
45.
Roosa, M. W.
, Shell, R. M., Ayers, T. S., Gensheimer, L. K., & Short, J. L. (1990). Reliability and validity of the Children's Coping Strategies Scale. Unpublished manuscript, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
46.
Russell, M.
, Henderson, C., & Blume, J. B. (1985). Children of alcoholics: A review of the literature. New York: Children of Alcoholics Foundation.
47.
Sandler, l. N.
, Gersten, J. C., Reynolds, K., Kallgreen, C., & Ramirez, R. (1988). Using theory and data to plan support interventions: Design of a program for bereaved children. In B. H. Gottlieb (Ed.) Marshalling social support: Formats, processes and effects (pp. 53-85). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
48.
Sandler, I. N.
, Wolchik, S., Braver, S., & Fogas, B. (1986). Significant events of children of divorce. In S. M. Auerbach & A. L. Stolberg (Eds.) Crisis intervention with children (pp. 65-83). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
49.
Saylor, C. F.
, Finch, A. J., Spirito, A., & Bennet, B. (1984). The children's depression inventory: Systematic evaluation of psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 955-967.
50.
Sher, K. J.
, & Descutner, C. (1986). Reports of parental alcoholism: Reliability across siblings. Addictive Behavior, 11, 25-30.
51.
Steinhausen, H. C.
, Gobel, D., & Nestler, V. (1984). Psychopathology in the offspring of alcoholic parents. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 23, 465-471.
52.
Vaillant, G. E.
(1983). The natural history of alcoholism: Causes, patterns and paths to recovery. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
53.
VanEerdewegh, M.
, Clayton, P., & VanEerderwegh, P. (1985). The bereaved child: Variables influencing early psychopathology. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 188-194.
54.
Werner, E. E.
(1986). Resilient offspring of alcoholics: A longitudinal study from birth to age 18. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 47, 34-40.
55.
Wills, T. A.
(1985). Stress, coping and tobacco and alcohol use in early adolescence. In S. Shiffman & T. A. Wills (Eds.) Coping and substance use (pp. 67-94). New York: Academic Press.
56.
Wolchik, S.
, Westover, S., Sandler, l. N., & Balls, P. (1988, August). Translating empirical findings into an intervention for children of divorce. Paper presented at APA Convention, Atlanta, GA.
57.
Woodside, M.
(1983). Children of alcoholic parents: Inherited and psychosocial influences. Journal of Pscyhiatric Treatment and Evaluation, 5, 531-537.
58.
Zill, N.
(1983). Happy, healthy and insecure. New York: Doubleday Anchor.
