Family Life: A Review Of The NDARC Technical Report

Delyse M. Hutchinson, Richard P. Mattick,
Danya Braunstein, Elizabeth Maloney, Judy Wilson
The Impact of Alcohol Use Disorders on Family Life: A Review of the Empirical Literature
NDARC Technical Report No. 325

THE IMPACT OF ALCOHOL USE
DISORDERS ON FAMILY LIFE:
A REVIEW OF THE EMPIRICAL
LITERATURE
Delyse M. Hutchinson, Richard P. Mattick,
Danya Braunstein, Elizabeth Maloney, Judy Wilson

NDARC Technical Report Number: 325
ISBN: 978-0-7334-3392-4
JUNE 2014

©NATIONAL DRUG AND ALCOHOL RESEARCH CENTRE,
UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, SYDNEY, 2014
This work is subject to copyright protection. except as permitted under the copyright act 1968 and this notice, no part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or
As most studies in the literature reviewed have been cross-sectional, problems in family life cannot be attributed solely to alcohol use. Rather, it is likely that these factors interact in complex and dynamic ways, as well as with other macro- and local environmental factors, to determine the specific impacts for each family.
The literature used in this review highlighted a number of conclusions:
1. The extent of harmful drinking patterns and alcohol use disorders among
Australian parents is significant.
2. Alcohol abuse is common among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and has frequently been linked to family violence.
3. Parental alcohol use disorders are associated with a range of problems in family life. 4. Consideration of a developmental perspective is important in planning future policy and practice.
5. Treatment and intervention efforts should address the multiple risks experienced by families affected by parental drinking problems.
6. Prenatal exposure to alcohol increases the risk for a range of physical, cognitive and mental health problems in children, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Disorders. The question of whether there is a safe level of drinking during pregnancy remains to be
However, it is important to acknowledge that not all alcohol-related problems that affect families necessarily arise from clinical disorders.
Indeed, the majority of empirical studies have used broader definitions of alcohol-related difficulties such as ‘problem drinking’ or ‘heavy drinking’. Current Australian Alcohol
Guidelines are consistent for men and women, and recommend drinking no more than two standard drinks per day to avoid risk of long-term harm from alcohol-related disease or injury, and drinking no more than four standard drinks on a single occasion to avoid alcohol-related injury (National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC], 2009).
Drinking more than 14 standard drinks per week is often defined in the literature as
‘heavy drinking’ while greater than four drinks in a single occasion can be defined as
‘binge’ drinking (Maloney et al., 2010). Many Australian studies prior to 2009 used less conservative definitions of short- and long-term harm based on the 2001 Australian
Alcohol Guidelines (NHMRC, 2001). This prevents accurate comparisons of the different datasets using these varied terms and definitions. Despite variation