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13 - Alcohol and drug problems in parents: an overview of the impact on children and implications for practice

from Part III - Specific disorders: the impact on parent–child relationships

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 August 2009

By
Richard Velleman
Edited by
Michael Göpfert ,
Jeni Webster  and
Mary V. Seeman
Richard Velleman
Affiliation:
Mental Health Research and Development Unit, University of Bath, Bath, UK
Michael Göpfert
Affiliation:
Webb House Democratic Therapeutic Community, Crewe
Jeni Webster
Affiliation:
5 Boroughs Partnership, Warrington
Mary V. Seeman
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
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Summary

Alcohol and other drugs are used in socially acceptable ways in many diverse cultures but may, under some conditions, produce problems. Problem drinking/drug-taking is defined as any drinking or taking of drugs which causes problems to the drinker/drug-taker or to someone else. The majority of problem drinking/drug-taking is done by people who use alcohol or drugs inappropriately or in an unsafe or hazardous manner, as opposed to people who are seriously dependent or ‘addicted’.

How common is problem drink or drug use?

Figures for the year 2000 (Office for National Statistics, 2001) show that in the UK, 26% of adults report hazardous drinking patterns (as measured by the AUDIT questionnaire; Babor et al., 1992), and about 7% show symptoms of dependence on alcohol (as measured by the SADQ; Stockwell et al., 1983). Men are much more likely to report both hazardous drinking behaviour and signs of dependence than women: for hazardous drinking, the rates were 38% of men vs. 15% of women. Although these figures vary with age as well as gender, the prevalence rate for men never falls below 30% until the 60–64 age group, whereas the prevalence rate for women falls from around 30% for both the 16–19 and 20–24 age groups to around 24% in the 25–29 age group, and to below 20% thereafter.

These figures represent a large growth since the previous survey of this type in 1993.

Keywords

alcoholchildrendrugfamily membersparental relationship
Type
Chapter
Information
Parental Psychiatric Disorder
Distressed Parents and their Families
 , pp. 185 - 202
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2004

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