Locus of control and self-esteem of adult children of alcoholics.

Abstract

Many recent reports suggest that children of alcoholics express belief in a more external locus of control and have lower self-esteem than do children of nonalcoholics. Much of this work has been based on studies of children (under the age of 18). However, few studies have examined the impact of parental drinking on those people once they have reached adulthood. We administered the Rotter Internal/External Locus of Control scale, the self-esteem scale from the Jackson Personality Inventory and the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test to 497 college students. No significant relationships between parental alcoholism and locus of control or self-esteem were found. This finding conflicts with the previous research on children of alcoholics and suggests that caution is necessary before explaining specific personality factors on the basis of parental alcoholism alone.