Alcoholism Among
Families: Prevention
Program
BY: GABBI SPINNER, JETTE WADE AND
LIZ KEECH
Introduction

“Alcohol consumption and dependence is considered a public health problem
and deserve attention because of the social, work, family, physical, legal and
violence related it represents.”

Alcoholism: the addiction to the consumption of alcoholic, liquor or the mental
illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency.

Alcoholism is considered as a negative impact on families in various ways; such
as parent- child relationships, marital conflicts, and financial issues. A parent who
is influenced by the use of alcohol can intervene on the child’s development.

“Any drinking of alcohol by pregnant women increases the risk of malformations at birth, known as
fetal alcohol syndrome.”(Bowen, 1974)

According to Bandura and his theory of social learning, children can learn by observing their parents
drinking alcohol and their behavior towards the substance.

The family systems theory explains that the money spent on alcohol can decrease the amount of
money that is needed for resources provided for the family.

The impairment influenced by alcohol can impact the closure of the members’ relationships with one
another.
Review Of Literature

Raising Public Awareness about the Extent of AlcoholRelated Problems: An Overview By: Otis R. Bowen:

Informs the negative effects of alcohol use such as to the body,
child development (physically and socially) and the long term
illnesses such as cancer. (Bowen, 1974)

Discusses family statistics under the influence of alcohol such as
“nearly 5 million adolescents or 3 of every 10 have problems
with alcohol today”

With the genetic predisposition to alcoholism, about 1 of every
15 kids will eventually become an alcoholic and experts say 4 in
10 family court cases involve alcohol.

The article also mentions the average cost of alcohol,
compared to the cost of drug use ($117 million to $60 million).
Review Of Literature

ALCOHOL EFFECTS ON FAMILY RELATIONS: A CASE STUDY
By: Reinaldo Santos, Amanda Márcia, and Sandra Cristina
Pillon:

“Problems related to alcohol abuse have been associated to different
factors, regardless of the causes attributed to this phenomenon. Alcohol
consumption and dependence is considered a public health problem
and deserve attention because of the social, work, family, physical,
legal and violence related it represents.”

The results of the study conducted in this article show that the problems
caused by alcohol impose profound suffering to family members, which
contributes to high levels of interpersonal conflict, domestic violence,
parental inadequacy, child abuse and negligence, financial and legal
difficulties, in addition to clinical problems associated to it.

Children raised in families where other members abuse or are addicted
to alcohol and other substances are also at a high risk of being
physically and sexually abused.
Review of Literature

Ten Tips for Prevention for Youth,
National Council on Alcoholism and
Drug Dependence Inc.

Get Educated About Alcohol and Drugs: Everyone
has the ability to make the right decisions includes
getting educated. By getting educated on
alcoholism, you can prevent alcohol abuse.

Speak Out/Speak Up/Take Control: Take
responsibility for your life, your health and your
safety. Speak up about what alcohol and drugs
are doing to your friends, your community, and your
family and encourage others to do the same.
Purpose

Smart objective: An action, a target audience,
measure of success achievable and realistic time
frame.

Action: focuses on informing teens on negative effects
of alcoholism has on a family.

Target Audience: teens and their families that have a
history of alcoholism

Measure of Success Achievable: have each teen sign
a pledge to not drink until age 21, because research
shows young people who start drinking alcohol before
age 15 are 5 times more likely to develop alcohol
abuse or dependence than people who first used
alcohol at age 21 or older (NCADD.org)
Theoretical Model
Negative
Effects on
the
Family
Social
Interaction
Verbal
abuse
Avoidant
parenting
styles
Lack of P/C
relationship
Finance
Social
Learning
Theory
Physical
Developm
ent
Mothers
who drink
while
pregnant
(effects to
the child)
Lack of
money to
fulfill child’s
needs
Program Activities

For our activity, we will have 6 different situations on
slips of paper. The audience will choose a slip out of
a cup which contains a scenario in which they will
have to determine the negative effect that came
from the action.
Evaluation Measure
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Why should women not drink alcohol while they
are pregnant?
Why does the excessive use of alcohol affect
family finances?
What long term illness can come from excessive
use of alcohol?
What are some effects of Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome?
What are some programs that family members
of alcoholics can go to?\
Name one of the prevention tips for youth.