NCJ Number
225653
Journal
Child Abuse Review Volume: 17 Issue: 6 Dated: November/December 2008 Pages: 387-409
Date Published
November 2008
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This paper reports on findings from the European Union’s project ALC-VIOL (2005-07), which was designed to collect information from a variety of European countries on the nature of family conflict and domestic violence experienced by youth in families where there are parental alcohol problems, the problems these youth experience, and their coping and support mechanisms.
Abstract
The findings show that children living in families where one or both parents misuse alcohol face many adversities. The research shows that in many of these families, children witness significant domestic abuse and interparental violence. They also experience a greater incidence of physical violence and emotional abuse themselves. Although a wide range of coping strategies and tactics was reported, most youth reported that it was very difficult to cope within this environment. The majority of the most frequently used coping strategies were also the ones rated as most effective, i.e., social support, problem solving, emotional regulation, and distraction. These findings reinforce the importance of ensuring that generalist professionals (e.g., general practitioners, youth workers, teachers, etc.) who are most likely to come into contact with such youth are prepared to identify such youth and effectively intervene with them. The research involved interviews with youth ages 12-18 from Germany, Poland, Spain, England, and Malta regarding their experiences of living with parental alcohol misuse and parental violence. All the children had parents who were involved in treatment for alcohol problems. 7 tables and 74 references