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Title: Parental Alcoholism as a Risk Factor for DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in American Women: Another Look at the Moderating Effects of Dyadic Cohesion in Marital Communication Using Latent Structural Models
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Jennison, Karen M. Johnson, Kenneth A. |
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Parental Alcoholism as a Risk Factor for DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in American Women: Another Look at the Moderating Effects of Dyadic Cohesion in Marital Communication Using Latent Structural Models Presented: Chicago, IL, American Sociological Association Annual Meetings, August 1999 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: American Sociological Association Keyword(s): Alcohol Use; Family Environment; Family History; Health, Mental/Psychological; Health/Health Status/SF-12 Scale; Marital Satisfaction/Quality; Marriage; Parental Influences; Siblings; Women Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. Important trends in research over the past decade indicate that women are equally or even more greatly affected by familial alcoholism than are men. Although it is increasingly recognized that the adverse drinking outcomes predicted for adult children of alcoholics (COAs) are not inevitable and only a small percentage develop alcohol dependence or grow up to be alcoholic, currently relative little knowledge exists regarding moderating factors which reduce their vulnerability. This study identifies a multiple mediator latent structural model of the intergenerational transmission of risk for DSM-IV assessed alcohol abuse and dependence among women COAs in adulthood. The effects of both parental alcoholism and family environment are estimated at three time points spanning ten years across 5 year intervals: 1984, 1989 and 1994 using data from a subsample of 4,449 women in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY). Dyadic cohesion in marital communication (greater marital cohesion, harmony and less verbal disagreement, discord and conflict) is a proposed moderating factor that may operate in adulthood to lower the risk of female COAs developing alcohol abuse and dependence. Maximum likelihood estimates of the effects of alcohol mediators measured over time indicate that direct parental effects for adverse outcomes decline when COAs are in their late twenties and early thirties. Indirect parental effects through environmental influences dramatically increase the risk for abuse and dependence among COAs at this time, however, if they have one or more alcoholic siblings, especially an alcoholic sister. Dyadic cohesion and positive interpersonal communication patterns were found to effectively moderate the relationship that existed between parental alcoholism, environmental influences and adverse alcohol consequences. COAs with satisfactory marital communication also evidenced higher levels of intimacy with their partners, perceived the division of housework to be fairer, shared more responsibilities and burdens of the household, and had less conflict over in-laws and other domestic issues than other women COAs. The protective benefits of a good marriage against the risks of alcoholism remained when applied to younger and older subjects, and across all ethnic backgrounds, even after adjusting for other factors such as employment status. |
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Bibliography Citation
Jennison, Karen M. and Kenneth A. Johnson. "Parental Alcoholism as a Risk Factor for DSM-IV Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in American Women: Another Look at the Moderating Effects of Dyadic Cohesion in Marital Communication Using Latent Structural Models." Presented: Chicago, IL, American Sociological Association Annual Meetings, August 1999. |