Abstract

The relationships between parental alcohol problems and risks of psychiatric disorders including substance abuse, conduct, attention deficit, mood and anxiety disorders were examined in a birth cohort of New Zealand children studied to the age of 15 years. This analysis showed that children exposed to alcoholic parents had risks of adolescent psychiatric disorders that were between 2.2 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.4; 3.3) to 3.9 (95% CI = 2.40; 6.0) times higher than children whose parents did not report alcohol problems. After adjustment for a range of confounding factors these associations tended to reduce but even after adjustment, children of alcoholic parents had rates of disorder that were between 1.6 (95% CI = 1.1; 2.6) to 3.0 (95% CI = 1.8; 4.5) times higher than the offspring of parents who did not have alcohol problems. The analysis suggested approximately linear relationships between the extent of reported parental alcohol problems and risks of disorder. There was no evidence to suggest that, in general, males responded to parental alcohol problems in a way that differed from the response of females.