Elsevier

Addictive Behaviors

Volume 29, Issue 8, November 2004, Pages 1633-1636
Addictive Behaviors

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Parental alcoholism: Relationships to adult attachment in college women and men

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2004.02.064Get rights and content

Abstract

The present study of general and romantic adult attachment among 484 female and male college students compared those who resided with an alcohol-abusing parent prior to age 16 and those who did not. Participants completed the Relationship Style Questionnaire (RSQ; general adult attachment), Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R; romantic attachment), and the Children of Alcoholic Screening Test (CAST; perceived parental alcoholism). Results indicated that 23% of these young adults had lived with an alcohol-abusing parent, and relative to those who had not, they reported more anxiety and greater avoidance in romantic relationships and a more fearful style of general adult attachment. The implications of these findings in the context of the extant literature were discussed.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 484 undergraduates (361 women and 123 men) at a public university in southeastern Virginia. Their ages ranged from 18 to 30 years (M=20.3; SD=2.7). In this sample, 54% were White, 31% Black or African-American, 4% Asian, 4% Hispanic/Latino, and 7% other or unspecified ethnicities. They participated anonymously for extra credit in their classes.

Relationship Style Questionnaire (RSQ; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994)

The RSQ is a 30-item measure that assesses four general adult attachment dimensions: (1) secure, (2) fearful, (3) preoccupied, and (4)

Results

The non-ACOA group consisted of 98 men and 233 women (CAST M=0.06, SD=0.29). The ACOA group included 21 men and 88 women (CAST M=13.04, SD=5.35, Range=6–28). Persons with CAST scores from 2 to 5 were indeterminate and were excluded. Within the ACOA group, 19% responded affirmatively to the CAST item “thought their mother was an alcoholic,” 66% believed this was true of their father, and 6% believed both parents to be alcoholic. Women were more likely to be classified as ACOA (i.e., 27.4% of the

Discussion

Relative to non-ACOAs, the interpersonal models of ACOAs lead them to perceive adult relationships with more apprehension. ACOAs were more likely to possess both avoidant and anxious romantic attachment attitudes compared to their non-ACOA peers. Therefore, college student ACOAs may be more likely to regulate attachment to others by maintaining a defensive, self-protective orientation to relationships.

Most developmentalists agree that early and ongoing experiences with caregivers coalesce into

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