How Drinking Fathers Affect Childrens Development

How Drinking Fathers Affect Children's Development Addiction Alcohol Use Children of Alcoholics Print Alcoholic Fathers and Childrens Development Study Tracks Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Development By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on November 03, 2015 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on January 17, 2020 Michaela Begsteiger/Getty Images More in Addiction Alcohol Use Children of Alcoholics Binge Drinking Withdrawal and Relapse Drunk Driving Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Its well known that the alcohol use disorder of the mother has a big influence on the early development of children, but what is not widely known is that the fathers problems can also affect child development at this stage. The same alcoholics who claim that their drinking affects no one but themselves would be surprised to find that their alcohol abuse, depression, and other emotional problems can begin having an effect on their children as early as 12 months old. Social, Emotional and Cognitive Development Affected While parental alcohol abuse plays a key role in a childs development, alcoholism is rarely an isolated factor. The presence of symptoms of depression in either parent can also be a factor, researchers say. The social, emotional and cognitive development of children with alcohol-abusing fathers has been noted in research at the University at Buffalos Research Institute on Addictions (RIA). At the RIA, Kenneth Leonard, Ph.D., and colleagues tracked the development of children of alcohol-abusing fathers and a control group at 12, 18 and 24 months of age. The children were observed with each parent in a natural play setting. How Alcohol Abuse Affects Parenting When the children were 12 months old, the study found that compared to the control fathers, the alcohol-abusing fathers: Spoke less to their infantExpressed less positive involvementExpressed more negative emotionsReported more aggravation with their infant Observations of the parents with their children also revealed that the alcohol-abusing fathers were less sensitive in their parenting compared to the control fathers. This means they were not aware of their childrens behavior, or not guided by the behavior of their children. The mothers who were married to the alcohol-abusing fathers behaved with their infants much like the mothers married to the control fathers. But, if the mother had her own alcohol abuse problem or exhibited symptoms of depression, it contributed to the less-sensitive parenting of the children. Anxiety, Depression, and Behavioral Problems By the time the children were 18 months old, the children of alcohol-abusing father: Displayed symptoms of anxietyHad more symptoms of depressionDisplayed more externalizing problems, like tantrums If the mothers of the children had no symptoms of depression, only the children of the alcohol-abusing fathers displayed externalizing problems. However, when the mother did have depression symptoms, the children displayed more externalizing problems whether the fathers had alcohol problems or not. Depression Can Play a Greater Role Therefore, the RIA researchers concluded that depressive symptoms in either or both parents may play a larger role in the childs development than alcohol abuse. The researchers wrote that it was important to note that not all of the children in alcohol-abusing families exhibited any problems at all. In fact, there was great diversity among the behavior of the alcohol families and some of their children were doing well. Developing Other Problems The effects of alcohol abuse in child development cannot be considered in isolation. We have to examine these effects longitudinally and seek to discover sources of resiliency in these families, the authors said. Other studies have found that parental drinking continues to affect children beyond the 24 months age and children of alcoholics can develop negative outcomes that include depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, substance abuse or interpersonal difficulties.