The Effects of Parental Alcohol Abuse on Children
Alcohol is the most used psychoactive drug in the world. It is abused by a variety of ages and ethnic groups. The abusers of alcohol have chosen to live their lives centered on alcohol, but what about their children? Children of alcoholics (COAs) must involuntarily live in an alcohol centered home. Children whose parents abuse drugs and alcohol are almost three times likelier to be physically or sexually assaulted and more than four times likelier to be neglected than children of parents who are not substance abusers. (Califano, 1999) With 28 million children of alcoholics and several million children of drug addicts and abusers, the number of children and adults in America who, during their lives, have been neglected and/or physically and sexually assaulted by substance-abusing parents is a significant portion of our population (Califano, 1999). These children develop a wide range of problems, which vary in severity depending on the home situation and weather or not they were victims of fetal alcohol syndrome Children who have fetal alcohol syndrome have a whole different set of problems that children who grew up in an abusing home. In order to lessen the psychological or developmental trauma that COAs experience programs like school counseling and child welfare programs in their favor need to be available to help them cope and overcome becoming addicts themselves.
Between 1000 and 6000 (Birth Defects, 2007) babies each year start their life with developmental disadvantages due to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). FAS is a pattern of mental and physical birth defects that is common in babies of mothers who drink heavily during pregnancy (2007). Other babies are born with Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) which is applied to children whose mothers are known to have drunk heavily during pregnancy and who exhibit some, but not all of the characteristics of FAS. Babies born with FAS/FAE have different facial distinctions than babies not exposed to alcohol. Their facial characteristics are described as short eyelid openings, flat midface, thin upper lip, and a flat or smooth groove between the nose and upper lip. Children born with FAS/FAE can experience developmental setbacks such as: growth retardation, damage to organs, and cognitive development suppression. These children can also develop behavioral problems such as: hyperactivity, hyper responsiveness to stressors, and socioemotional functioning. These setbacks become a major problem for FAS children, especially when it comes to school (Jacobson, 2002). One of the most difficult aspects in school that FAS/FAE children face is low IQs due to cognitive development setbacks. In contrast with down syndrome patients, who exhibit impairment in virtually all aspects of intellectual function, FAS patients often perform relatively well on language tests, although they tend to have difficulty with complex language tests. (Jacobson, 2002). Many FAS patients are mentally retarded, but a substantial proportion perform in the low to low average range.
Some children were not exposed to alcohol in the womb. These children are still at a great risk, like FAS/FAE children, to have physical, mental, social, and emotional problems than children of non-alcoholics. Some causes for these setbacks originate in the home. Children in alcoholic families must deal with the stress related to martial disturbances, instability within the home, different parenting styles, physical or sexual abuse, and neglect. One reason for the above is that most alcoholic families are closed off which allows for these things to happen. The attitudes of alcoholic mothers compared with non alcoholic mother, tend to be less accepting, more rejecting, disciplinarian, or overprotective (Post, 1998). Similarly, alcoholic fathers compared with non alcoholic father are more likely to include ridicule, rejection, harshness, and neglect (Post, 1998).
One study done by Finchman, Golden, and Logsdon, at Buffalo University, set out to compare the adjustment to children living in families with drug abusing fathers (n=40) with that of children with fathers who abused alcohol (n=40) and children with non-substance abusing fathers (n=40). Although many factors may affect children's adjustment, virtually all parent-child models assign a major role to family processes in the early development of negative child behaviors. Parental substance abuse may directly influence two keys components of fathering: child monitoring and disciplinary practices (Golden, 2004). The results of this study indicated that children with alcohol abusing fathers have slightly lower levels of depression and anxiety than that of drug abusing fathers, but higher levels than non substance abusing fathers. This study shows that children who come from substance abusing backgrounds do suffer.
It is important that COAs have counseling available to them. COAs grow up in an environment of conflict, tension, instability, and uncertainty, and need to learn healthy coping skills to deal with the day to day stressors. It is important that COAs get the guidance they need because their psychosocial development is at stake. COAs need to learn how to establish interpersonal relationships, and they may need extra resources to help them achieve at school. The most important reason for counseling is to prevent COAs from substance abuse and to prevent any long-lasting emotional, social, behavioral, and physical problems. It is important to prevent substance abuse because children of alcoholics are at a higher risk to abuse. Genetic and environmental factors put COAs at risk. Most school counselors feel they do not have enough information to treat COAs and so they go untreated. It is important that there become more available preparation programs for counselors to treat COAs (Lambie, 2005).
Besides the need for counseling, it is important that there are child welfare services available for COAs and their families. Once involved in the child welfare system, substance abusing parents are more likely to experience subsequent allegations of maltreatment compared with non- substance-abusing parents. Children of substance abusing parents remain in substitute care for significantly longer periods of time and experience significantly lower rates of family reunification relative to almost every other subgroup of families in the child welfare system (Louderman, 2006). One reason for this is that access to substance abuse treatment is limited, especially for women with children. If they can get it, parents usually stay in treatment for short periods of time due to lack of finding child care.
Only a few studies have examined treatment effectiveness for clients involved in the child welfare system. Marsh and colleagues used a nonequivalent control group design to examine the effectiveness of enhanced services for 148 substance abusing women with children in the Illinois child welfare system. The study compared clients who received enhanced services with those who received regular substance abuse treatment. The use of linkage services, specifically resulted in increased use of social services for child welfare clients, and this increased use of social services for child welfare clients, was related to decreased substance use (Louderman, 2006).
Family unification is a primary focus in child welfare programs, but this has been a difficult struggle for addicted parents in the child welfare system. It can sometimes take years before an infant or child can be reunified with their parents. If unification is to be increased then treatment strategies need to be reevaluated. The development of better child welfare programs that meet the diverse needs of families will increase the success of substance abusing families in the child welfare system.
COAs are at risk for many developmental, psychological, and emotional problems. Children born with fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects are at risk for additional developmental, psychological, and emotional problems. Early prevention for abuse and the availability of counseling can help to cope with the effects of being a COA. Child welfare programs that are better programmed to substance abusing families can up the success rate of these families. Alcohol is an ever-growing problem in our country. The children who fall victims need guidance and understanding to stop the chain of abuse.
Refrences
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