Patterns of Cohesion in the Families of Offspring of Addicted Parents: Examining a Nonclinical Sample of College Students

Abstract

This study was designed to examine patterns of family functioning among college students who are offspring of addicted parents. 218 undergraduate psychology students were administered a series of measures assessing family functioning, dissociation, parental addiction, and a history of child abuse. As predicted, offspring of addicted parents reported significantly lower Cohesion in their families of origin (F1,161 = 10.16, p = .002), and described significantly greater dissatisfaction with the cohesion they experienced in their families of origin, when compared to their college peers (F_1,135= 10.24, p = .002). However, these groups reported comparable Adaptability in their families of origin (F_1,161 = 1.74, ns). These data show that, although offspring of addicted parents college students appear to share commonalities with their student peers in terms of the adaptability in their families of origin, they still share some key characteristics with clinical populations of offspring of addicted parents, which distinguish them as a group.