IS HAVING AN ALCOHOLIC FATHER HAZARDOUS FOR CHILDRENS PHYSICAL HEALTH

Five hundred and ninety-nine French-Canadian pre-adolescent children f or whom the alcoholic status of the parents was Known were subdivided into eight groups, according to family structure (intact, non-intact), alcoholic status of the father (alcoholic, non-alcoholic) and gender of the target child (girl, boy). ANCOVAs were conducted (controlling f or income, a factor which contributes to illness) for health-related v ariables in order to test the hypothesis that children of alcoholic fa thers have more physical health problems compared to children without alcoholic fathers. Data pertaining to use of medical services, serious and minor illnesses and pregnancy-related events were analysed It was found that overall, pre-adolescent children of alcoholics were not mo re ill than children of non-alcoholics. There were, however, some diff erences worthy of note. Children of alcoholics had significantly lower birthweights than the children of non-alcoholics. Boys in non-intact alcoholic families were of shorter stature than the other children. A three-way interaction showed that daughters of alcoholics and sons of non-alcoholics living in non-intact families were more likely to have used psychologists' services, as were sons of alcoholics in intact fam ilies. The results were discussed in terms of the heterogeneity of alc oholic families as well as the need to identify subgroups of children of alcoholics who are at risk.