Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T13:45:06.309Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Paternal alcohol use and the mother-infant relationship

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2009

Rina Das Eiden  and
Kenneth E. Leonard
Rina Das Eiden*
Affiliation:
Research Institute on Addictions, Buffalo, New York
Kenneth E. Leonard
Affiliation:
Research Institute on Addictions, Buffalo, New York
*
Rina Das Eiden, Research Institute on Addictions, 1021 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14203.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between paternal alcohol use and the mother-infant relationship. A related goal was to investigate the role of maternal depression and marital satisfaction in moderating this relationship. Subjects were 55 mother-infant dyads (12–24-month-old infants) who were observed in the Strange Situation paradigm to assess infant attachment and in structured play interactions. There were 23 families with heavy drinking fathers and 32 with light drinking fathers. As predicted, infants of heavy drinking fathers were more likely to be insecurely attached compared to infants of light drinking fathers. Contrary to expectations, neither maternal depression nor marital interaction mediated the relationship between paternal alcohol use and mother-infant interactions. However, maternal depression did interact with paternal alcohol use to predict infant attachment security and maternal sensitivity. There was also an interactive effect of marital satisfaction and paternal alcohol use on maternal sensitivity. The results suggest that paternal alcohol use may influence family functioning and the mother-child relationship as early as infancy and suggest one possible pathway toward maladjustment among infants of heavy drinking fathers. However, in addition to investigating the impact of paternal alcohol use on the father-infant relationship, the influence of various familial factors associated with paternal alcohol use need to be more closely examined from a longitudinal perspective.

Type
Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , Spring 1996 , pp. 307 - 323
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andreascn, N. C., Endicott, J., Spitzer, R. L., & Winokur, G. (1977). The family history method using diagnostic criteria: Reliability and validity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 34, 1229–1235.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andreasen, N. C., Rice, J., Endicott, J., Reich, T., & Coryell, W. (1986). The family history approach to diagnosis. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 421–429.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (Eds.). (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Ainsworth, M. D. S., & Wittig, B. A. (1969). Attachment and exploratory behavior of one year olds in a strange situation. In Foss, B. M. (Ed.), Determinants of infant behavior (Vol. 4). London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Alpern, L., & Lyons-Ruth, K. (1993). Preschool children at risk: Chronicity and timing of maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems at school and at home. Development and Psychopathology, 55, 371–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Babor, T. F., Kranzlcr, H. R., & Lauerman, R. J. (1989). Early detection of harmful alcohol consumption: Comparison of clinical, laboratory, and self-report screening procedures. Addictive Behaviors, 14, 139–157.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J. (1981). Early human experience: A family perspective. Developmental Psychology, 17, 3–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 55, 83–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J., & Isabella, R. (1988). Maternal, infant, and social-contextual determinants of attachment security. In Belsky, J. & Nezrowski, T. (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 41–94). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Billings, A., Kessler, M., Gomberg, C., & Weiner, S. (1979). Marital conflict-resolution of alcoholic and nonalcoholic couples during sobriety and experimental drinking. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 40, 193–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Retrospect and prospect. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52, 664–678.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyd, J. H., Weissman, M. M., Thompson, W. D., & Myers, J. K. (1982). Screening for depression in a community sample: Understanding the discrepancies between depression syndrome and diagnostic scales. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39(10), 1195–1200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bretherton, L. (1985). Attachment theory: Retrospect and prospect. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points in attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 209), 3–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brody, G., & Forehand, R. (1986). Maternal perceptions of child maladjustment as a function of the combined influence of child behavior and maternal depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 237–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cahalan, D., Cisin, I., & Crossley, H. (1969). American drinking practices: A national study of drinking, behavior and attitudes. (Monograph No. 1). New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Center of Alcohol Studies.Google Scholar
Campbell, S. B., Cohn, J. F., Flanagan, C., Popper, S., & Meyers, T. (1992). Course and correlates of postpartum depression during the transition to parenthood. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 29–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlson, V., Cicchetti, D., Barnett, D., & Braunwald, K. (1989). Disorganized/disoriented attachment relationships in maltreated infants. Developmental Psychology, 25, 382–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chassin, L., Rogosch, F., & Barrera, M. (1991). Substance use and symptomatology among adolescent children of alcoholics. Journal of Abnormal Psychology. 100(4), 449–463.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clair, D., & Genest, M. (1987). Variables associated with the adjustment of offspring of alcoholic fathers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 48, 345–355.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, R. (1986, 04). Maternal affective disturbances and child competence. Paper presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Los Angeles, CA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, R., Musick, J., Scott, F., & Klehr, K. (1980). The Mother's Project Rating Scales of Mother-Child Interaction. Unpublished document.Google Scholar
Clark, R., & Midanik, L. (1982). Alcohol use and alcohol problems among U.S. Adults: Results of the 1979 National Survey. Alcohol and Health Monograph J: Alcohol Consumption and Related Problems, (pp. 3–52, DHSS Publication No. (ADM) 82–1190). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.Google Scholar
Cloninger, C. R. (1987). Neurogenetic adaptive mechanisms in alcoholism. Science, 236, 410–416.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coleman, D. H. & Straus, M. (1983). In Gottheil, E., Druley, K. A., Skoloda, T. E., & Waxman, H. M. (Eds.), Alcohol abuse andfamily violence (pp. 204–224). Springfield, IL: C. C. Thomas.Google Scholar
Dawson, G., Grofer Klinger, L., Panagiotides, Spieker S., & Frey, K. (1992). Infants of mothers with depressive symptoms: Electroencephalographic and behavioral findings related to attachment status. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 67–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, R. E., & Vallaint, G. E. (1988). Predicting alcoholism and personality disorder in a 33-year longitudinal study of children of alcoholics. British Journal of Addiction, 83, 799–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egeland, B., & Farber, E. A. (1984). Infant-mother attachment: Factors related to its development and changes over time. Child Development, 52, 44–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eiden, R. D., Teti, D. M., & Corns, K. (1995). Maternal working models of attachment, marital adjustment, and the parent-child relationship. Child Development, 66, 1504–1518.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
El-Guebaly, N., & Orford, D. R. (1977). The offspring of alcoholics: A critical review. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 357–365.Google ScholarPubMed
Ensel, W. M. (1982). The role of age in the relationship of gender and marital status to depression. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 170(9), 536–543.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erickson, M. F., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland, B. (1985). The relationship between quality of attachment and behavior problems in preschool in a high-risk sample. In I. Bretherton & E. Waters (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 209), 147–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fagot, B. I., & Kavanagh, K. (1990). The prediction of antisocial behavior from avoidant attachment classifications. Child Development, 61, 864–873.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feiring, C., Fox, N. A., Jaskir, J., & Lewis, M. (1987). The relationship between social support, infant risk status, and mother-infant interaction. Developmental Psychology, 23, 400–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T. (1984). Early interactions between infants and their postpartum depressed mothers. Infant Behavior and Development, 7, 527–532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T. (1992). Infants of depressed mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 49–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T., Healy, B., Goldstein, S., Guthertz, M. (1990). Behavior state matching in mother-infant interactions of nondepressed versus depressed mother-infant dyads. Developmental Psychology, 26, 7–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, W. A., & Easterbrooks, M. A. (1984). The role of marital quality in toddler development. Developmental Psychology, 20, 504–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, M. T., & Speltz, M. L. (1988). Attachment and the ontogeny of conduct problems. In Belsky, J. & Nezworski, T. (Eds.), Clinical Implications of Attachment (pp. 177–191). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Hilton, M. E. (1991). The demographic distribution of drinking problems in 1984. In Clark, W. G. & Hilton, M. E. (Eds.), Alcohol in America: Drinking practices and problems (pp. 87–101). Albany: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Jacob, T., & Krahn, G. L. (1988). Marital interactions of alcoholic couples: Comparison with depressed and nondistressed couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(1), 73–79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacob, T., Krahn, G. L., & Leonard, K. E. (1991). Parent-child interactions in families with alcoholic fathers. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59(1), 176–181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacob, T., & Leonard, K. E. (1988). Alcoholic-spouse interaction as a function of alcoholism subtype and alcohol consumption interaction. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97(2), 231–237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacob, T., & Seilhamer, R. A. (1982). The impact on spouses and how they cope. In Orford, J., & Harwin, J. (Eds.), Alcohol and the family (pp. 114–126). London: Crown Helm.Google Scholar
Jacobson, J. L., & Wille, D. E. (1986). The influence of attachment pattern on development changes in peer interaction from the toddler to the preschool period. Child Development, 57, 338–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jansen, R. E., Fitzgerald, H. E., Ham, H. P., Zucker, R. A. (1995). Pathways into risk: Temperament and behavior problems in three- to five-year-old sons of alcoholics. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 19(2), 501–509.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, S., Leonard, K. E., & Jacob, T. (1989). Drinking, drinking styles, and drug use in children of alcoholics, depressivcs, and controls. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 50(5), 427–431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamb, M. E. (1987). Predictive implications of individual differences in attachment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 817–824.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Locke, H. J., & Wallace, K. L. (1959). Short marital adjustment and prediction test: Their reliability and validity. Marriage and Family Living, 21, 251–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyons-Ruth, K., Alpern, L., & Repacholi, B. (1993). Disorganized infant attachment classification and maternal psychosocial problems as predictors of hostile-aggressive behavior in the preschool classroom. Child Development, 64(2), 572–585.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyons-Ruth, K., Connell, D. B., Grunebaum, H., & Botein, S. (1990). Infants at social risk: Maternal depression and family support services as mediators of infant development and security of attachment. Child Development, 61, 85–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Main, M., & Soloman, J. (1990). Procedures for identifying infants as disorganized/disoriented during the Ainsworth Strange Situation. In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (Eds.), Attachment in the pre-school years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 121–160). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Moos, R. H., & Billings, A. C. (1982). Children of alcoholics during the recovery process: Alcoholic and matched control families. Addictive Behaviors. 7, 155–163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moos, R. H., Finney, J. W., & Cronkite, R. C. (1990). Alcoholism treatment: Context, process, and outcome. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Noll, R. B., Zucker, R. A., & Greenberg, G. S. (1990). Identification of alcohol by smell among preschoolers: Evidence for socialization about drugs occurring in the home. Child Development, 61, 1520–1527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connor, M. J., Sigman, M., & Kasari, C. (1992). Attachment behavior of infants exposed prenatally to alcohol: Mediating effects of infant affect and mother-infant interaction. Developmental Psychopathology, 4, 243–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Leary, K. D., & Turkewitz, H. (1978). Marital therapy from a behavioral perspective. In Paolino, T. J. Jr, & McCrady, B. S.. (Eds.), Marriage and marital therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Orvaschel, H., Weissman, M. M., & Kidd, K. K. (1980). Children and depression: The children of depressed parents; the childhood of depressed patients; depression in children. Journal of Affective Disorders, 2(1), 1–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patterson, G. (1980). Mothers: The unacknowledged victims. Monograph of the Society for Research in Child Development (Serai No. 186).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, G. R. (1982). Coercive family processes. Eugene, OR: Castalia Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Power, T., & Chapieski, M. (1986). Childbearing and impulse control in toddlers: A naturalistic investigation. Developmental Psychology, 22, 271–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radke-Yarrow, M., Cummings, E. M., Kuczynski, L., & Chapman, M. (1985). Patterns of attachment in two- and three-year-olds in normal families and families with parental depression. Child Development, 56, 884–893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, M., Henderson, C., & Blume, S. (1985). Children of alcoholics: A review of the literature. New York: Children of Alcoholics Foundation.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1985). Resilience in the face of adversity: Protective factors and resistance to psychiatric disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 598–611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schneider-Rosen, K. (1990). The developmental reorganization of attachment relationships. In Greenberg, M. T., Cicchetti, D., & Cummings, E. M. (Eds.), Attachment in the preschool years: Theory, research, and intervention (pp. 185–220). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sher, K. J. (1987). Stress response dampening. In Blane, H. T. & Leonard, E. (Eds.), Psychological Theories of Drinking and Alcoholism (pp. 227–271). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Sher, K. J. (1991). Children of alcoholics: A critical appraisal of theory and research. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A. (1988). The role of infant attachment in development. In J. Belsky & T. Nezworski (Eds.), Clinical implications of attachment (pp. 18–38).Google Scholar
Sroufe, L. A., Egeland, B., & Kreutzer, T. (1990). The fate of early experience following developmental change: Longitudinal approaches to individual adaptation in childhood. Child Development, 61, 1363–1373.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sroufe, L. A., & Fleeson, J. (1986). Attachment and the construction of relationships. In Hartup, W. & Rubin, Z. (Eds.), Relationships and development (pp. 51–71). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Stott, F. M., Musick, J. D., Clark, R., & Cohler, B. (1983). Developmental patterns in the infants and young children of mentally ill mothers. Infant Mental Health Journal, 4(3), 217–235.3.0.CO;2-L>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarter, R. E. (1988). Are there inherited behavioral traits that predispose to substance abuse? Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(2), 189–196.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tarter, R. E., Alterman, A. I., & Edwards, K. L. (1985). Vulnerability to alcoholism in men: A behavior-genetic perspective. Journal Studies on Alcohol, 46, 329–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teti, D. M., Nakagawa, M., Das Eiden, R., & Wirth, O. (1991). Security of attachment between preschoolers and their mothers: Relations among social interaction, parenting stress, and mothers' sorts of the attachment Q-set. Developmental Psychology, 27(3), 440–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, E., & Dean, K. E. (1985). Defining and assessing individual differences in attachment relationship: Q-Methodology and the organization of behavior in infancy and early childhood. In I. Bretherton and E. Waters (Eds.), Growing Points of Attachment Theory and Research Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 209) 41–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werner, E. E. (1986). Resilient offspring of alcoholics: A longitudinal study from birth to age 18. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 47, 34–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
West, M. O., & Prinz, R. J. (1987). Parental alcoholism and childhood psychopathology. Psychological Bulletin, 102, 204–218.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
York, J. L., & Welte, J. W. (1994). Gender comparisons of alcohol consumption in alcoholic and nonalcoholic populations. Journal Studies on Alcohol, 55, 743–750.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zahn-Waxler, C., Cummings, M., McKnew, D. H., & Radke-Yarrow, M. (1984). American Journal of Psychiatry. 141, 236–240.Google Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C., Ianotti, R. J., Cummings, E. M., & Denham, S. (1990). Antecedents of problem behaviors in children of depressed mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 271–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zucker, R. A. (1987). The four alcoholisms: A developmental account of the etiologic process. In Rivers, P. C. (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (Vol. 34, pp. 27–83). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Zucker, R. A., & Fitzgerald, H. E. (1991). Early developmental factors and risk for alcohol problems. Alcohol Health Research World, 15, 18–24.Google Scholar
Zucker, R. A., & Gomberg, E. S. L. (1986). Etiology of alcoholism reconsidered. American Psychologist, 41(1), 783–793.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zweben, A. (1986). Problem drinking and marital adjustment. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 47(2), 167–172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed