The relationships between retrospective perceptions of an alcoholic home environment with levels of differentiation of self and trait anxiety in adult children of alcoholics

• Main Author: Rojas-Hughes, Barbara Lynn
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: W&M ScholarWorks 1993
• Subjects: Developmental Biology; Developmental Psychology; Student Counseling and Personnel Services
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618863; https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2073&context=etd

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between adult children of alcoholics (ACOA's) recollections of their family of origin home environments, with present day levels of ACOA differentiation of self, and trait anxiety. The author explored the influence of ACOA gender differences and a variety of demographic information.;The ACOA volunteers for this study were recruited from The College of William and Mary in Virginia. to be included in the study, subjects must have met the following criteria: (a) the volunteer's age must have been 18 years or above; (b) subjects met the ACOA criteria by scoring a 6 or above on the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test.;Volunteers completed paper and pencil test packages as the data gathering technique for this study. The following instruments were included in the test package: (1) State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; (2) Differentiation of Self Scale; (3) Children of Alcoholics Screening Test; (4) Family Environment Scale; and (5) a Personal History Questionnaire.;It was hypothesized that: (1) ACOA's would demonstrate a significant relationship between perceived past family environments and levels of differentiation of self; (2) ACOA's would demonstrate a significant relationship between perceived past family environments and levels of trait anxiety; (3) an inverse relationship would exist between differentiation of self and trait anxiety; (4) ACOA's were expected to have lower levels of cohesion and expressiveness, and higher levels of conflict; (5) ACOA's were expected to be less independent, achievement orientated, intellectual, and show less interest in recreational activities; and (6) ACOA's were expected to have low degrees of organization and high degrees of control.;It was concluded that all six significant relationships did exist.;Future studies are needed to: improve on sampling techniques; account for distorted perceptions of the past and personality changes due to the passage of time; and explore the influence of the alcoholic parent's gender on the ACOA's subsequent development.