A. Physiology and Heredity. Some vulnerability is inherited. The children of alcoholic parents are four times more likely to become alcoholics. This holds true even when they are adopted into non-drinking homes at birth. B. Environmental Influences 1.
Children of alcoholics have a host of emotional scars.
Many live with depression, eating disorders and the constant fear of alcoholism. In some cultures such as among Jews, drinking is common, but is confined to meal time. The family is present and forms a natural deterrent to drunkenness. Such restraints are not available in the US and drinking often takes place at taverns and on an empty stomach. The alcoholic's family contribute by trying to forcibly control the alcoholic's drink or to help him hide his habit.