Are adult children of alcoholics unique? A study of object relations and reality testing.

This self-report questionnaire study revealed that adult children of alcoholics (ACAs, n = 49) were significantly different from adult children from normal families (ACNs, (n = 55) on five of nine Bell Object Relations Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI; Bell, 1988) scales and from adult children from dysfunctional families (ACDs, n = 48) on the Reality Testing summary score. Both ACAs and ACDs were similar to each other and different from ACNs on Insecure Attachment and on two family background ratings- perceived quality of paternal and maternal caregiving. Discussion of these results plus separate exploratory regression analyses followed.