Family Background and Life Situation in Alcoholics

Abstract

RECENT reviews^1,2testify the inconclusive results of various investigations into the long-term effects of childhood parental deprivation and bereavement in the causation of adult mental ill-health and behavior disturbance. Schizophrenia, depression, neurosis, psychopathic disorder, attempted suicide, and drug addiction as well as alcoholism have been recently studied. Methodological difficulties abound. Gregory³has listed these as: (1) comparisons between unlike samples, (2) selection which may lead to the samples not being truly representative of the universe from which they are drawn: (3) failure to allow for chance error in sampling and to apply tests of statistical significance to differences observed; and (4) a number of common fallacies which have frequently invalidated deductions, namely unjustified generalization, and unjustified specificity. McConaghy and Lovibond⁴have recently attacked the formalistic attitude to certain aspects of methodology, an attribute which manifests itself particularly in the