PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDREN OF ALCOHOLICS

Move than 20 years ago, researchers first noted that children of alcoh olics (COA's) appeared to be affected by a variety of problems over th e course of their life span. Such problems include fetal alcohol syndr ome, which is first manifested in infancy; emotional problems and hype ractivity in childhood; emotional problems and conduct problems in ado lescence; and the development of alcoholism in adulthood, Although muc h has been learned over the ensuing two decades, a number of controver sial research areas remain. In particular, debate stems from the fact that despite a common interest in COA's, clinically focused literature and research-focused literature have resulted in two distinct bodies of knowledge. This article reviews important research results, with em phasis on findings generated by the alcohol-research community. Attent ion also is given to examining the empirical validity of concepts that have been advanced by several influential clinicians from the COA fie ld.