Skip to main content
Full access
Clinical & Research News
Published Online: 4 June 2004

Alcohol-Abusing Parents Preside Over Family Turmoil

In 2002 there were almost 5 million adults who abused or were dependent on alcohol and lived with at least one child, according to statistics from a large household survey. Now new data show that parents with alcohol problems were much more likely to report dysfunction within the family.
The findings come from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which is sponsored by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Prior to 2002, the household survey was called the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.
“Children living in homes with alcohol-dependent or alcohol-abusing parents are at high risk of also becoming alcohol and drug abusers, with the potential of perpetuating the disease when they have their own children,” said SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie in a press release discussing the survey results.
The 2002 NSDUH data are based on information gathered from face-to-face interviews with more than 68,000 people aged 12 and older.
Alcohol-dependent or alcohol-abusing adults with children living at home were more likely to have used illicit drugs than parents who were not dependent on or abusing alcohol, according to the study.
Moreover, parents who abused or were dependent on alcohol reported that people in the household often insult or yell at each other (40.4 percent), compared with their counterparts without alcohol problems (27.3 percent). Almost 12 percent of the parents with an alcohol problem said they struck or threatened to strike a spouse or partner, whereas 4.6 percent of parents without alcohol problems acknowledged doing so.
Results from the 2002 NSDUH results are posted online at<www.DrugAbuseStatistics.samhsa.gov.>

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

History

Published online: 4 June 2004
Published in print: June 4, 2004

Notes

Parents with alcohol abuse disorders are more likely to use illicit drugs and report family dysfunction.

Authors

Affiliations

Metrics & Citations

Metrics

Citations

Export Citations

If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.

For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.

Format
Citation style
Style
Copy to clipboard

There are no citations for this item

View Options

View options

Get Access

Login options

Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.

Personal login Institutional Login Open Athens login

Not a subscriber?

Subscribe Now / Learn More

PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.

Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).

Media

Figures

Other

Tables

Share

Share

Share article link

Share