Adult daughters of alcoholics: are they unique?

To test the assertion in the clinical literature that adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) are uniquely impacted by their parents' alcohol abuse, 25-35 year old daughters (N = 184) of alcohol-abusing, psychiatrically distressed, comorbid and normal parents were compared on measures of fear of intimacy, generalized psychological distress, perceived love inconsistency from parents and perceived interparental conflict. Neither fear of intimacy nor daughters' psychological distress differed across groups. Daughters of psychiatrically distressed and comorbid mothers recalled greater love inconsistency from mother than from father. Daughters of psychiatrically distressed and comorbid fathers recalled greater interparental conflict and daughters of comorbid fathers recalled greater love inconsistency from fathers than did daughters of alcoholic fathers. The proposed unique features of ACOA daughters and of the alcoholic family environment were not identified. The findings are discussed in terms of the clinical literature on ACOAs.