This continues even during adulthood, where they care for others at the behest of their own sense of safety and well-being. If you are growing up with alcoholic parents, knowing how it affects you and how you can heal from these negative experiences goes a long way in living a fulfilling, joyous life. If what is alcoholism you are an adult child of a parent with alcohol addiction – or if you are a parent concerned about your own alcohol use and its impact on your family – CATCH Recovery offers therapy and counselling services that can help you. Children of alcoholic parents have a four times greater chance of developing AUD later in life. However, medical experts are quick to point out that having an alcoholic parent never guarantees a child will develop AUD.

What Are Some Strategies for Breaking the Cycle of Alcoholism Within a Family?

• It is often difficult to determine whether a child’s problems are directly linked to parental alcoholism, separate, or a combination.
• Unfortunately, any of these behaviors can negatively affect children at school and in other settings.

Unfortunately, with approximately 3.3 million alcohol-related deaths occurring every year and millions more people living with alcohol use disorder (AUD), many children are suffering with alcoholic parents 1. Children go through several crucial developmental stages, from infancy to early childhood to adolescence, and neglectful, abusive, or emotionally absent parenting can stunt development or even cause children to regress. In a study of more than 25,000 adults, those who had a parent with AUD remembered their childhoods as “difficult” and said they struggled with “bad memories” of their parent’s alcohol misuse. Some people experience this as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), like other people who had different traumatic childhood experiences. Unfortunately, there is a lack of systematic, longitudinal research investigating the effects of other forms of prenatal drug use on children’s cognitive and academic performance 42. One of the few published studies on the longitudinal effect of prenatal methamphetamine exposure on school-age children comes from Sweden.

Mental Health and Loneliness

The older children in the family can have even more problems, such as becoming obsessed with perfectionism, hoarding things, isolating themselves from others, and being overly self-conscious. They struggle socially and psychologically and might face challenges in school because of their dysfunctional family environment, making it difficult for them to study and make friends. The effects of these emotions and thoughts can be so profound that they continue to take a toll on them well into adulthood. As a result, they struggle to maintain healthy relationships, make good decisions, and have a positive outlook.

Interpersonal relationships and the impact on mental health

Risk for poor emotional and behavioral outcomes among children living with a parent who has a substance abuse history are reported among those as young as 2 to 3 years of age 5–7. Adult children of alcoholic parents may continue to struggle with the aftereffects of their upbringing, affecting their mental health, relationships, and overall functioning. It’s important to recognize that these effects may be compounded by other risk factors such as poverty, conflict, and lack of family structure. Support and intervention strategies are crucial for mitigating the impact of parental alcohol abuse on children.

Building Healthy Coping Mechanisms

• In families with parental alcohol misuse, it can be difficult to establish this order, leaving children feeling adrift and more prone to falling into damaging behaviours.
• The impact of parental alcoholism can extend beyond childhood, with adult children of alcoholics struggling with issues such as depression, low self-esteem, social phobia, separation anxiety, obsessive-compulsive issues, and lower social competence.
• Interventions that focus on improving the family environment, including alcoholism treatment for parents and family therapy, can have a positive impact on children’s academic and social outcomes.
• Our study extends the existing literature, suggesting important links between parental alcohol abuse and harm to children.
• Exposure to alcohol and substance use disorders affects children in their development and throughout their lives.

Consequently, they may fear authority figures or people in general and become isolated. Others may develop more difficult disorders such as reactive attachment disorder or borderline personality disorder. These types of mental health conditions can make it challenging for individuals to form healthy relationships.

Physical and Mental Health

Adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) are likelier to struggle with emotional regulation, mental health, self-esteem, trust issues, the need for control, and forming healthy relationships. In sum, children of substance abusing parents show increased risk for emotional, behavioral, and social problems. In some cases, these problems may emerge in early childhood and persist through adolescence. Several factors contribute to variability in this risk, however, including co-occurring parental psychopathology, the number of alcoholic parents in the family, and the recovery status of the problem drinking parent. It will be critical for future researchers and treatment providers to consider these factors that contribute to risk and which also explain part of the variability in outcomes among children of substance abusing parents. Parents and their children who face these multiple risk factors may likely need additional support from treatment providers.

With an abandonment issue, the difference between being emotionally versus physically abandoned can be hazy, as the fear of being abandoned takes precedence over the nuances. Alcoholism affects individuals physically and emotionally–in the way they behave, think and feel. Alcohol may be the central guiding principle of family life, causing trauma and shaping (or restricting) each alcoholism symptoms individual’s development, yet family members will work hard to hide this secret.

By prioritizing accessible treatment options, families can embark on a journey toward understanding, resilience, and improved well-being. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with a substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes.