Disaggregating the distal, proximal, and time-varying effects of parent alcoholism on children's internalizing symptoms

J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2008 Apr;36(3):335-46. doi: 10.1007/s10802-007-9181-9. Epub 2007 Sep 20.

Abstract

We tested whether children show greater internalizing symptoms when their parents are actively abusing alcohol. In an integrative data analysis, we combined observations over ages 2 through 17 from two longitudinal studies of children of alcoholic parents and matched controls recruited from the community. Using a mixed modeling approach, we tested whether children showed elevated mother- and child-reported internalizing symptoms (a) at the same time that parents showed alcohol-related consequences (time-varying effects), (b) if parents showed greater alcohol-related consequences during the study period (proximal effects), and (c) if parents had a lifetime diagnosis of alcoholism that predated the study period (distal effects). No support for time-varying effects was found; proximal effects of mothers' alcohol-related consequences on child-reported internalizing symptoms were found and distal effects of mother and father alcoholism predicted greater internalizing symptoms among children of alcoholic parents. Implications for the time-embedded relations between parent alcoholism and children's internalizing symptoms are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Alcoholism / epidemiology*
  • Child
  • Child Behavior / psychology
  • Child of Impaired Parents / psychology*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Fathers / statistics & numerical data*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Maternal Behavior / psychology
  • Observer Variation
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Time Factors