Attachment in adult daughters of alcoholic fathers.

AIM This study was designed to explore the utility of attachment theory for explaining socio-emotional outcomes in adult daughters of alcoholic fathers (ADAF). It was hypothesized that ADAF would have more insecure attachment organizations than daughters of non-alcoholic parents (non-ADAF), and that ADAF would describe themselves as more disposed towards compulsive care-giving than non-ADAF. DESIGN ADAF and a matched group of non-ADAF were compared on measures of attachment security and compulsive care-giving. PARTICIPANTS From a larger sample of 251 female college students, 26 ADAF and a matched group of non-ADAF were identified to participate in the study. SETTING A large, urban university in the northeastern US. MEASUREMENTS Participants completed the Adult Attachment Interview and a questionnaire assessing characteristics of compulsive care-giving. FINDINGS As predicted, ADAF had less secure attachment organizations then did non-ADAF. Although no group differences were observed for compulsive care-giving scores, compulsive care-giving was negatively correlated with attachment security for ADAF. CONCLUSIONS Findings indicate that the concept of attachment may be useful for understanding the developmental consequences of parenting in alcoholic families.