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Updated: May 14, 2026

Using a Comparative Species Approach to Investigate the Neurobiology of Paternal Responses
Published on: September 19, 2011
Mother-daughter and father-daughter attachment of college student ACOAs
Michelle L Kelley1, Alexis French, Valarie Schroeder
1Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia 23529-0267, USA. Mkelley@odu.edu
Abstract:
This 2005 study compared parent-child attachment in 89 American female Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOAs) as compared to 201 non-ACOAs. Women attended a large university in the southeastern United States. Participants categorized as ACOA on the Children of Alcoholics Screen Test (CAST; Jones, 1983) reported significantly more negative affect and less support from their fathers as indicated on the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (Kenney, 1987). When results were examined by the gender of the alcohol-abusing(1) parent, participants who suspected their fathers were problem drinkers did not differ from non-ACOAs in their attachment to either parent. As compared to non-ACOAs, women who self-identified as daughters of problem-drinking mothers reported poorer attachment both to mothers and fathers.
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