by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

About the author: The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is a nonprofit organization composed of over 6,500 child and adolescent psychiatrists and other physicians interested in preventing, treating, and promoting an understanding of mental illness among young people.

One in five adult Americans lived with an alcoholic while growing up. Child and adolescent psychiatrists know these children are at greater risk for having emotional problems than children whose parents are not alcoholics. Alcoholism runs in families, and children of alcoholics are four times more likely than other children to become alcoholics. Most children of alcoholics have experienced some form of neglect or abuse.

A child in such a family may have a variety of problems:
• Guilt. The child may see himself or...