CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS, NEGATIVE LIFE EVENTS, AND EARLY EXPERIMENTATION WITH DRUGS

Questionnaires were completed by sixth-grade students and their parent s in order to assess differences between children of alcoholics (COAs) and their peers, as well as the relations between family environment and children's experimentation with alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Socia l competence and problematic behavior were also explored. The best pre dictors of early experimentation with alcohol, drugs, and tobacco were the experience of negative life events, family conflict, and lack of family cohesion, but not COA status per se. Differences were found bet ween COAs and non-COAs in respect to family structure, parent educatio n levels, and family environment. COAs were found to be significantly more likely than their peers to experiment with tobacco, but not alcoh ol or drugs. They also had a tendency to engage more frequently in del inquent behavior. Recommendations for future research and implications for preventive activities are discussed.