Temperament and resilience of children of alcohol dependent individuals

Abstract

IntroductionChildren of alcohol dependent individuals are affected by disturbed parent-child relationship and exhibit externalizing symptoms, arrhythmicity, negative mood and low persistence.ObjectivesTo assess the temperament and resilience of children of alcohol dependent individuals and to study their relationship with the father's severity and problems of alcohol intake.AimsTo assess the psychological profile of children of alcohol dependent individuals.MethodsCross-sectional study conducted in a tertiary care centre from January to August 2015. Severity of alcohol dependence in father and problems related to it was assessed using ‘short alcohol dependence data’ and ‘alcohol problems questionnaire’; the temperament and resilience of their children (n = 31) was assessed using ‘temperament measurement schedule’ and ‘strengths and difficulties questionnaire’ respectively.ResultsThe sample comprised of 48% boys and 52% girls with mean age (SD) of 9.32 (3.02) years. Eighty-one percent belonged to lower socioeconomic status. Their fathers’ mean age (SD) was 37.13(4.9) years and duration of alcohol dependence being 16.32 (5.7) years, average use/day being 19.19 (14.9) units with moderate (45.2%) to high (41.9%) dependence. Significant association was observed between severity of alcohol dependence and temperamental domain-threshold of responsiveness (χ2 = 17.272, P value = 0.002) (Fig. 1). The average units of alcohol consumed/day were a significant predictor for the presence of emotional problems in the child (OR = 30.12; 95%CI 1.33–677.86).ConclusionThere's a significant association between father's alcohol use and child's psychopathology which indicates the need for preventive and curative mental health measures.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.