Single Parent Children and Alcohol Abuse

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Research findings have demonstrated a relatively strong association between single parent children and alcohol abuse. 

More specifically, children who are raised in single-family households are approximately twice as likely to experience alcohol-related problems such as alcoholism or alcohol abuse as compared with children who are raised by both parents in the same household.

Alcohol-Related Diseases and Single-Parent Households

According to a Swedish study published in the January 2003 edition of The Lancet medical journal, children raised in single-parent households are twice as likely to develop alcohol-related diseases than children who live with both parents.

In the same study, furthermore, the risk of drug abuse was found to be three times higher in girls and four times higher in boys from single-parent homes.  Note:  This Swedish study compared hospital admissions and death statistics during the 1990s for almost a million children.

A number of different alcoholism research studies have concluded that children growing up without their biological father present are more likely to commit crime, abuse drugs and alcohol, drop out of school, commit suicide, live in poverty and become pregnant as a teenager than children living with their married parents. 

In a similar manner, the findings from another study discovered that children growing up in single-parent households are twice as likely to develop alcohol-related diseases than children who live with both parents.

Studies on Contact with Biological Fathers and Drug and Alcohol Abuse

In one study, even 11 or 12 years after the divorce of their parents, adolescents who have good relationships with their non-custodial fathers are less likely to abuse alcohol or drugs than children who never see their non-custodial fathers.   In the same study, children who live without contact with their biological fathers are, in comparison to children who have such contact, more than twice as likely to abuse drugs or alcohol.

In a study of over 450 alcoholics and 80 heroin addicts, it was discovered that the absent father in such circumstances is a very typical occurrence.  In fact, according to this study, "it is the rule rather than the exception."

In a study entitled "Father Absence and Adolescent 'Problem Behaviors': Alcohol Consumption, Drug Use and Sexual Activity" in the Adolescence journal, it was found that the absence of the father from the home significantly affects the behavior of adolescents, and results in greater use of alcohol and marijuana.

This study also found that the impact of the father's absence from the home is apparently greater on male adolescents than on female adolescents.  That is, the alcohol and marijuana use for father-absent male adolescents is greater than for any other group.

The data in this study emphasized the importance of the father as a key figure in the transmission of values and as a role model in the life of the adolescent.

Single Parent Children and Alcohol Abuse: Conclusion

When considering the results from the above studies, it seems plausible to conclude that there is a strong correlation between single parent children and alcohol abuse. 

That is, children who are raised in single-family households are roughly twice as likely to experience alcohol-related problems such as alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency as compared with children who are raised by both parents in the same household.

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