[Life without childhood--parentification of women with ACoA syndrome]

Psychiatr Pol. 2014 May-Jun;48(3):553-62.
[Article in Polish]

Abstract

Aim of the study: The aim of the study conducted on 110 women (55 research group, 55 control group) was to answer the question: If and what kind of parentification (role reversal in the family) do women with Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACoA) syndrome experience in comparison to women who did not experience parent's alcoholism in childhood?

Method: The following methods were applied in the study: a questionnaire prepared for screening children of alcoholics Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST) by John Jones and Joanne Pilat, and a questionnaire to examine parentification Filial Responsibility Scale for Adult (FRS--A) created by Gregory Jurkovic and Alison Thirkield.

Results: The results have shown that in comparison to women who did not experience parental alcoholism in childhood, women with ACoA syndrome have more often experienced parentification and a sense of injustice in the past. Currently, these women also experience this feeling more frequently.

Conclusions: The analysis of the results of this study could serve as valuable clues for the therapeutic work with women who are Adult Children of Alcoholics.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Controlled Clinical Trial
  • English Abstract

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Alcoholism / psychology*
  • Child of Impaired Parents / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Internal-External Control*
  • Life Change Events
  • Middle Aged
  • Parent-Child Relations
  • Parents / psychology
  • Social Adjustment*
  • Syndrome
  • Women's Health*
  • Young Adult