[A study of high school students with alcoholic parents]

This is the first study in Japan which estimates the frequency of children with alcoholic parents in the general population and investigates the addictive substances abused by these children. In order to determine which children have alcoholic parents, a 10-item set of questions concerning the alcohol problems of parents known as CAST-J (Children of Alcoholics Screening Test-Japan) was prepared using CAST (Children of Alcoholics Screening Test) as a reference. In a preliminary survey, CAST-J and CAST were performed on 20 cases diagnosed as children of parents with alcohol-related problems by psychiatrists and 112 students of medically-related school. From these results, it was decided that those who had answered affirmatively to at least three of the 10 questions in CAST-J were children of alcoholic parents (parents with alcohol-related problems). The present survey was performed on 1,754 high school students who underwent the CAST-J and AAIS (Adolescent Alcohol Involvement Scale). The information on the experience of smoking and thinner inhalation was also obtained. Among these high school students, 11.6% of the total (8.4% of males and 15.2% of females) had alcoholic parents. Among the high school students with alcoholic parents, 21.7% were found to be alcohol misusers or alcoholic-like drinkers in the AAIS, which was significantly more than the 10.6% of students without alcoholic parents. This significant difference was seen for both males and females. It was also found that significantly more high school students with alcoholic parents had experienced smoking and thinner inhalation than those without such parents. In conclusion, it appeared that more than 10% of Japanese high school students have alcoholic parents, and they also often misuse addictive substances such as alcohol, tobacco and thinner.