An Examination of the Leaving Home Transition for Children of Alcoholics and Their Families

Abstract

Researchers examined whether ethnicity alters the risk for difficulty in the transition out the home among children of alcoholics (COAs). We tested this question in a community based, longitudinal sample of 705 COAs and matched with non-COA controls as well as their parents. Latino COAs were less likely to leave home than were Euro-American COAs. Ethnicity and COA status independently influenced young adult and parental experiences of the transition out of the home. Compared with Euro-American controls, Latino families reported more difficulty and feelings of abandonment in the transition out of the home regardless of COA status. Although COA status increased risk for greater difficulty in the transition among Euro-American young adults, Latinos experienced the transition out of the home similarly regardless of COA status. Future studies examining normative family transitions in at-risk populations should incorporate ethnicity in their models as culture and at-risk status may both influence these transitions.