Adverse Childhood Experiences, Alcoholic Parents, and Later Risk of Alcoholism and Depression

The study examined how growing up with alcoholic parents and having adverse childhood experiences are related to the risk of alcoholism and depression in adulthood.

In this retrospective cohort study, 9,346 adults who visited a primary care clinic of a large health maintenance organization completed a survey about nine adverse childhood experiences: experiencing childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; witnessing domestic violence; parental separation or divorce; and growing up with drug-abusing, mentally ill, suicidal, or criminal household members. The associations between parental alcohol abuse, the adverse experiences, and alcoholism and depression in adulthood were assessed by logistic regression analyses.