Adult children of alcoholics
Adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) are individuals who grew up in households with alcoholic parents and often experience lasting emotional and psychological effects from that upbringing. Estimates suggest that there are over 26.8 million ACOAs in the United States today. These individuals frequently confront challenges in their personal and professional lives due to their early experiences, which may include emotional, psychological, or physical neglect and abuse. Common issues for ACOAs include heightened risks of developing alcohol use disorders, mental health challenges, and difficulties in forming stable relationships. They may also struggle with feelings of inadequacy and a strong need for approval, which can lead to unhealthy behaviors, such as dependency in relationships or financial overspending.
Despite these challenges, ACOAs can find pathways to healing through various strategies, including reading about their experiences, confiding in supportive friends, seeking professional counseling, or joining support groups. Programs like Al-Anon and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) offer valuable resources and community connections for those looking to understand their past and foster healthier futures.
Adult children of alcoholics
DEFINITION: According to estimates by the nonprofit Children of Alcoholics Foundation (CAF), there are more than 26.8 million adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) in the United States in the early twenty-first century. Children brought up in alcoholic or otherwise dysfunctional homes often are exposed to emotional, psychological, or physical abuse, and the scars left by an alcoholic parent can last long into adulthood.
The Effects of Alcoholism on Families
Adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) suffer from a wide range of negative effects because of their disrupted family backgrounds, including a fourfold increase in the likelihood of suffering from alcohol abuse or alcoholism themselves, higher rates of mental disorders, higher rates of marrying into alcoholic families, and higher rates of becoming separated or divorced from their spouses. Typical ACOA tendencies can affect critical elements of life, including interpersonal relationships, parenting style, career goals, and finances.
Trust and security, two necessities for successful long-term relationships, do not come easily for many ACOAs, who typically grew up in insecure or chaotic homes and may choose to isolate themselves from others. In addition, because many alcoholic parents were often more preoccupied with drinking than with caring for their children, ACOAs may have suffered from neglect during their childhoods and may have a strong need for affection, which can manifest itself as possessiveness, jealousy, and oversensitivity. The strong desire to be loved can lead ACOAs to inspire dependency in their own children. ACOAs’ need for approval can also lead them to overspend or pay beyond their means to please others. Also, many ACOAs had to mature early and assume the responsibilities that the alcoholic parent could not fulfill, which can create an overdeveloped sense of responsibility in ACOAs and contribute to feelings of inadequacy and loss of control.
Finding Help
The depth to which alcoholism affects ACOAs’ daily lives depends on a wide range of variables, from their own personalities and coping skills to the extent to which their parent’s alcoholism affected their early developmental years. All ACOAs can benefit from learning strategies that will help them overcome negative behaviors and chart courses for healthy futures, but no single method works best for everyone. Options include:
Reading. Find the latest books and research, both in print and online, about alcohol abuse and the way it can affect family life.
Talking. Confide in a close friend or family member who can understand your feelings and respect your privacy without judgment.
Counseling. Meet with a psychologist or certified social worker who can help you focus on your future, not the pains of the past. Sometimes talking with a stranger can be more therapeutic than talking with a friend.
Joining. Become a part of a free support group that meets in person or in a private online chat forum to find out how other ACOAs have overcome barriers to happiness. Twelve-step programs, such as Al-Anon and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA), can be particularly empowering.
Bibliography
Dayton, Tian. "Adult Children of Alcoholics and Trauma." The Huffington Post, 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Editorial Staff. "Children of Alcoholics: The Impact of Alcoholics on Kids." American Addiction Centers, 18 June 2024, americanaddictioncenters.org/alcoholism-treatment/children. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.
Ketcham, Katherine, William F. Asbury, Mel Schulstad, and Arthur P. Ciaramicoli. Beyond the Influence: Understanding and Defeating Alcoholism. Bantam, 2000.
Ludwig, Arnold. Understanding the Alcoholic’s Mind: The Nature of Craving and How to Control It. Oxford UP, 1989.
Martin, Scott C. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives. Sage, 2015.
Miller, William R., and Kathleen M. Carroll, eds. Rethinking Substance Abuse: What the Science Shows, and What We Should Do about It. Guilford, 2010.
Rothenberg, William A., Andrea M. Hussong, and Laurie Chassin. "Modeling Trajectories of Adolesent-Perceived Family Conflict: Effects of Marital Dissatisfaction and Parental Alcoholism." Journal of Research on Adolescence, vol. 27, no. 1, 2017, pp. 105–21. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pbh&AN=121443306&site=ehost-live&scope=site. Accessed 17 Oct. 2017.
Susman, David. "Characteristics of Adult Children of Alcoholics." Verywell Mind, 28 Apr. 2024, www.verywellmind.com/common-traits-of-adult-children-of-alcoholics-66557. Accessed 29 Oct. 2024.