Do adult offspring of alcoholics suffer from poor medical health? A three-group comparison controlling for self-report bias.
This study examined whether adult offspring of alcoholics (AOAs) who are in treatment have relatively poor medical health. A clinical sample of AOAs and 2 comparison groups completed measures that assessed reports of physician-diagnosed health problems and participant perceptions of minor medical symptomatology. The personality trait of neuroticism-stability (negative affectivity) served as a statistical covariate together with selected demographic variables found to correlate with AOA status. Results of analysis of covariance showed that AOAs reported a greater number of physician-diagnosed serious health problems than both treatment and non-treatment controls. The 3 groups did not differ in terms of minor symptom reports when neuroticism-stability was controlled. However, when neuroticism was not covaried, the groups differed in terms of minor symptoms, suggesting poorer health among AOAs. In general, the results were interpreted as providing partial and preliminary support for the contention that living in an alcoholic environment during childhood and adolescence plays a role in the manifestation of serious medical problems in adulthood. The results also suggest that future studies of AOAs that utilize self-report measures of minor physical symptoms should control for the self-report bias associated with the personality trait of neuroticism.
Hart
Kenneth E
KE
Department of Psychology, University of Windsor, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor, Ontario N9B 3P4, Canada. kenhart@uwindsor.ca
Fiissel
Dorrie L
DL
McAleer
Margaret
M
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000437:Alcoholism; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015982:Bias; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D009341:Negativism; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D024802:Nurse's Role; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010551:Personality; D010865:Pilot Projects