The Relationship between Attachment Styles and Psychological Distress in Adult Children with Alcoholic Fathers

Abstract

Research suggests that a causal relation exists between alcoholism in fathers and the resulting personality and behavior of the child. Correlational research design was used to explore two variables and purposive sampling was considered the best sampling strategy for a sample of 202 males and 198 females. For the participants, age (18-25) and education (tenth grade as minimum level of education) were the two variables that were controlled. Any child of alcoholic father above or below the age bracket given and possessing lower than 10th grade of education was not selected. Demographic sheet, General health Questionnaire and Adult Attachment Questionnaire were filled out by the participants. A one-way Analysis of Variance revealed significant differences between all three groups. Those with secure attachment styles reported the least psychological distress, followed by the avoidant attachment style group. Those falling into the anxious/ambivalent attachment style reported the highest levels of psychological distress. The results were discussed in the light of the literature review. The alcoholic consumption of the parents and their abusive behavior towards the children can manifest as fear of intimacy, unstable relationships, and lack of confidence and self-worth for the victims. It is further proposed that these problems can carry through generations if left unchecked, creating a plethora of damaged individuals.