Adult children of alcoholic or mentally ill parents: alcohol consumption and psychological distress in a tri-ethnic community study

A study of the influence of parental alcoholism and parental mental illness on adult children from racially and ethnically diverse random communities reveals that higher estimates of depression, worry and somatization are seen among male drinkers whose parents had a history of alcoholism. Parental mental illness causes depression, worry, somatization and high drinking among females. The occurrence of these effects in males who reported parental alcoholism indicates the resilience of male Adult Children of Alcoholics who do not drink or drink to mediate parental alcoholism.