Sirkka Peiponen
Private Psychiatric Practice, Kuopio, Finland
Comorbidity of Depression and Alcohol Use Disorders. Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2009, 198 pages.

Earlier research has indicated associations between parental substance abuse and psychiatric problems in adolescents. This article aims to review studies of alcohol abusing parents and their offspring, to discuss the consequences of parental alcohol abuse on adolescents. A clinical study is reviewed more thoroughly about the association of parental alcohol abuse and depression with severe emotional and behavioral problems in adolescents, and the main finding shows, that maternal alcohol abuse and depression are associated with serious problems, especially among girls, including both internalizing and externalizing problems, and paternal alcohol abuse is associated with adolescent health compromising behavior. The research and the study reviewed indicate that parental alcohol abuse is associated highly with severe problems such as depression and substance abuse in adolescence and future adulthood, and this should be considered when assessing children and adolescents and their families. More information is needed about protecting factors and intervening possibilities.