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Alcoholic family marital heterogeneity aggregates different child behavior problems both pre- and postseparation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2018

Ka I Ip Open the ORCID record for Ka I Ip [Opens in a new window] ,
Jennifer M. Jester ,
Leon I. Puttler  and
Robert A. Zucker
Ka I Ip*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Jennifer M. Jester
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Leon I. Puttler
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
Robert A. Zucker
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Ka I. Ip, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, 530 Church Street, Ann Arbor MI, 48109; E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Children of alcoholics (COAs) are at risk for elevated internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Yet, little is known about the familial and behavioral adjustments of COAs following parental separation. Using an ecological–transactional framework, we examined how multiple risk factors contributed to the formation of different alcoholic family structures and how living in heterogeneous family structures affected COAs’ behavioral problems. The Michigan Longitudinal Study, a multiwave study on initially intact alcoholic and control families with preschool-age children (n = 503), was used to evaluate outcomes of offspring, when families either remained intact or were separated when the child was aged 12–14. Alcoholic families who later transitioned into stepfamilies were characterized with higher paternal antisociality, marital aggression, and serious family crises than alcoholic families that remained intact. COAs in stepfamilies (but not in single-parent families) exhibited higher levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in preadolescence compared with those in alcoholic intact families, in part because of elevated behavioral risk at age 3. Structural equation modeling indicated that the aggregated risk of stepfamily residence directly related to COAs’ internalizing and indirectly related to COAs’ externalizing problems, partially mediated by family stressors. Findings suggest targeting COAs in separated families for early intervention.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 31 , Issue 2 , May 2019 , pp. 771 - 788
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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Footnotes

This research was supported by National Institute of Mental Health Grant R01 AA12217 and R37 AA07065 (to R.Z.). The authors thank the University of Michigan Department of Psychology and Psychiatry and the Michigan Longitudinal Study team.

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