A Confluent Model of ACOA Outcomes: Implications for Assessment, Treatment, and Research.

Current conceptions of Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) are unable to account for recent research which suggests many of the characteristics used to describe ACOAs are not valid. These conceptions also fail to explain the documented heterogeneity among ACOAs with regard to life and therapeutic outcomes. In this paper, an alternative model of ACOA outcomes is formulated, which relies on self-schema theory, the social-cognitive constructs of behavioral self-regulation and self-efficacy, the influences of the "ecological environment," and objective signs and subjective symptoms of dysfunction. It is argued that the model provides a better "fit" to the empirical data concerning ACOA outcomes and carries implications for assessment, treatment, and future research with ACOAs. (Author)