Validity and reliability of an "Adult Children of Alcoholics" Index

A 21-item Adult Children Of Alcoholics (ACOA) Index was statistically analyzed in an effort to develop a measure of identifying and assessing ACOAs. The ACOA Index, administered to a conference sample (n = 328), produced four factors suggesting rejection, impulsiveness, inconsistency, and deliberation. The ACOA Index was most highly correlated with indexes for mild depression and low self-esteem. ACOAs scored significantly higher on the ACOA Index than non-ACOAs with an overall correct classification of 67%. Test-retest procedure produced a Pearson r = .80 using a college student sample (n = 134), but only r = .40 for a sample of alcohol inpatients (n = 34). The alpha coefficient for the ACOA Index is .85.