Women With an Alcoholic Parent Have More Risk Factors

Women With an Alcoholic Parent Have More Risk Factors Addiction Alcohol Use Print Women With an Alcoholic Parent Have More Risk Factors By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on December 06, 2015 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on May 27, 2019 Ray Kachatorian / Getty Images More in Addiction Alcohol Use Binge Drinking Withdrawal and Relapse Children of Alcoholics Drunk Driving Addictive Behaviors Drug Use Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery There are differences in how parental alcoholism affects daughters as opposed to how it affects sons, particularly when it comes to psychopathology, or mental health disorders, in each gender. Daughters of alcoholics are affected by a parents alcoholism in many of the same ways that sons are. Both are at higher risk of developing alcohol abuse disorders compared to children of non-alcoholic parents. But there are some differences in how women are influenced, scientists say. Certain Behavior Problems Appear to Be Shared by Men and Women Children of both genders who have parents with a substance use disorder are at a higher risk of externalizing symptoms, negative behavior thats focused outward, resulting in disorders such as conduct disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and substance use disorders. Children of parents with a substance use disorder are also at a higher risk of internalizing symptoms, negative behavior thats focused inward. If parents have a current substance use disorder, kids are more at risk of developing both externalizing and internalizing symptoms. In the case of parents who are in recovery from substance use disorder, kids are more at risk of developing externalizing problems, but not internalizing problems. What Externalizing Means in Psychiatry Gender-Related Differences A ?Yale study  analyzing responses from 23,006 men and 17,368 women showed that daughters of alcoholic parents have more increased risks for substance use disorders and mental health disorders than sons do. The study also showed that having been raised by both biological parents and having a college degree indicated a lower frequency of both alcoholic mothers and fathers by over 50 percent and 30 percent, respectively. The Yale study found that daughters of alcoholic fathers and/or mothers have nearly a one-third greater risk of becoming alcoholics themselves than do the sons. The chances of developing bipolar mania are greater for sons of fathers with alcohol use disorders and daughters of mothers with alcohol use disorders. Daughters of alcoholic mothers have a higher chance of developing schizoid personality disorder and nicotine dependence than sons too. Women At Higher Risk for Many of the Effects of Alcohol Increased Risks for Females Having an alcoholic father puts females at a higher risk for every mental disorder with the exception of dependent personality disorder. Females with alcoholic mothers are also at a higher risk for every mental disorder except for hypomania, panic disorder, and pathological gambling. Increased Risks for Males Males in the study were shown to not have as many risks for individual mental disorders. They showed no greater risks for pathological gambling or dependent personality disorder with an alcoholic father and no greater risks for  mania, hypomania, panic disorder with agoraphobia, social phobia, pathological gambling, nicotine dependence, dependent personality disorder, or schizoid personality disorder  with an alcoholic mother. Research has shown that having an alcoholic mother significantly increases a sons risk of developing panic disorder, an illness typically diagnosed in females. How the Effects of Alcoholism Differ in Men