title: Alcoholism and timing of separation in parents: findings in a midwestern birth cohort.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined history of alcoholism and occurrence and timing of separation in parents of a female twin cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parental separation (never-together; never-married cohabitants who separated; married who separated) was predicted from maternal and paternal alcoholism in 326 African ancestry (AA) and 1,849 European/ other ancestry (EA) families. Broad (single-informant, reported in abstract) and narrow (self-report or two-informant) measures of alcoholism were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parental separation was more common in families with parental alcoholism: By the time twins were 18 years of age, parents had separated in only 24% of EA families in which neither parent was alcoholic, contrasted with 58% of families in which only the father was (father-only), 61% of families in which only the mother was (mother-only), and 75% in which both parents were alcoholic (two-parent); corresponding AA percentages were 59%, 71%, 82%, and 86%, respectively. Maternal alcoholism was more common in EA nevertogether couples (mother-only: odds ratio [OR] = 5.95; two parent: OR = 3.69). In ever-together couples, alcoholism in either parent predicted elevated risk of separation, with half of EA relationships ending in separation within 12 years of twins' birth for father-only families, 9 years for mother-only families, and 4 years for both parents alcoholic; corresponding median survival times for AA couples were 9, 4, and 2 years, respectively. EA maternal alcoholism was especially strongly associated with separation in the early postnatal years (mother-only: birth-5 years, hazard ratio [HR] = 4.43; 6 years on, HR = 2.52; two-parent: HRs = 5.76, 3.68, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Parental separation is a childhood environmental exposure that is more common in children of alcoholics, with timing of separation highly dependent on alcoholic parent gender.
authors: School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA. mwaldron@indiana.edu
authors: Mary
authors: M
authors: Waldron
authors: Kathleen K
authors: KK
authors: Bucholz
authors: Michael T
authors: MT
authors: Lynskey
authors: Pamela A F
authors: PA
authors: Madden
authors: Andrew C
authors: AC
authors: Heath
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004243:Divorce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005220:Fathers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014427:Twins; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
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