CREATIVITY IN ALCOHOLIC AND NONALCOHOLIC FAMILIES

A battery of creativity tests was administered to 56 families (fathers , mothers, and their pubescent sons) representing three groups. Group A+ was comprised of recovering alcoholic fathers with a family history of alcoholism (n = 19). Group NA+ consisted of nonalcoholic fathers w ith a family history of alcoholism (n = 18). Group NA- was composed of nonalcoholic fathers without a family history of alcoholism (n = 19). None of the mothers or sons in these three family groups was alcoholi c. All subjects completed the Creativity Personality Scale, the four O rigence/Intellectence scales from the Adjective Check List, and the Ho w Do You Think Test. Moreover, fathers and sons received two divergent thinking tests, and mothers rated their sons using a special scale fr om the Adjective Check List. Results indicate that alcoholic fathers a nd their sons had generally lower creativity scores than fathers and s ons of the other two groups. The mothers did not differ. Moreover, the re were significant correlations between fathers' and sons' creativity scores and significant interactions, indicating that the father-son r elationships differed among the three groups. The implications of thes e results are discussed.