‘Don't Make Us Talk!’: Listening to and Learning from Children and Young People Living with Parental Alcohol Problems
Open accessAbstract
Given the common issues of secrecy, shame and stigma, we know very little about the lives of children affected by parental alcohol problems from their own perspectives. Thirty children and young people (aged between 9 and 20) chose to communicate about this sensitive issue as part of a Scottish qualitative study. This study reveals how children and young people have extensive knowledge about parental alcohol problems and can demonstrate considerable agency in choosing how to share this knowledge in a research setting. Developing a greater understanding of children's nuanced ways of communicating has implications for research, policy and practice.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
These children and adolescents were mostly concerned about the alcoholic parent, and not about the impact on the family or themselves.
“These children and adolescents were mostly concerned about the alcoholic parent, and not about the impact on the family or themselves (Hill, 2015).”
From “I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics (2018) · cites this paper as Hill, 2015
In “Choosing to talk indirectly” (page unavailable), Hill reports that participants discussed the impact on their own lives, including missing school to care for parents or siblings. The paper also describes their knowledge of alcohol’s impact on family life. This contradicts the claim that they were not concerned about effects on the family or themselves. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredHill (2015) found that although COA knew a lot about their parents' alcohol problems, they made their own decision about what to reveal, and it seemed easier to talk about a third person, distancing the situation from their parents.
“The results revealed that although the COA knew a lot about their parents’ alcohol problems, they made their own decision about what to reveal. It seemed easier to talk about a third person, distancing the situation from their parents.”
From “I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics (2018) · cites this paper as Hill, 2015
There is a lack of studies examining how children and adolescents themselves describe the experience of being a COA.
“There seems to be a lack of studies examining how children and adolescents themselves describe the experience of being a COA. Hill (2015) argues that little is known about the lives of COA from their own point of view.”
From “I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics (2018) · cites this paper as Hill, 2015
Vignettes can be suitable to use when asking children to talk about sensitive topics.
“Vignettes can be suitable to use when asking children to talk about sensitive topics (Barter & Renold, 2000; Hill, 2015).”
From “I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics (2018) · cites this paper as Hill, 2015
Adolescent COA have described their experiences in previous research.
“Adolescent COA have described their experiences in previous research (Hill, 2015; Murray, 1998; Templeton et al., 2009).”
From “I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics (2018) · cites this paper as Hill, 2015
The adolescents showed that they had a lot of knowledge about their parent's addiction, but they were very cautious of what to tell an outsider.
“The adolescents showed that they had a lot of knowledge about their parent’s addiction, but they were very cautious of what to tell an outsider.”
From “I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics (2018) · cites this paper as Hill, 2015
These adolescents had experiences of moving around a lot.
“These adolescents had experiences of moving around a lot (Hill, 2015).”
From “I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics (2018) · cites this paper as Hill, 2015
Mostly the adolescents shared experiences of the parent's treatment, which did not involve the rest of the family.
“Mostly they shared experiences of the parent’s treatment, which did not involve the rest of the family.”
From “I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics (2018) · cites this paper as Hill, 2015
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Delmont, S., & Mason, J. (1997) · British Journal of Sociology · doi:10.2307/591613 · Cited by 4,245 · see citing works
Secrets : On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation
Bok, S. (1982) · DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) · Cited by 615 · see citing works
Barter, C., & Renold, E. (2000) · International Journal of Social Research Methodology · doi:10.1080/13645570050178594 · Cited by 543 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Vignettes are particularly valuable when conducting research on a sensitive topic as participants can choose to talk through a ‘third person’ rather than talk directly about their own lives (Barter and Renold, 2000).”
BackgroundHill, M. (2006) · Childhood · doi:10.1177/0907568206059972 · Cited by 430 · see citing works
The Ambiguity of the Child's ‘Voice’ in Social Research
Komulainen, S. (2007) · Childhood · doi:10.1177/0907568207068561 · Cited by 386 · see citing works
Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation
Jordan, B., & Bok, S. (1984) · Journal of Policy Analysis and Management · doi:10.2307/3323978 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
Punch, S. (2002) · Children & Society · doi:10.1002/chi.685 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Creative Methodologies in Participatory Research with Children
Andersson, S., Aptekar, L., Boal, A., Brostrom, S., Bruner, J. S., Chambers, R., Cleaver, F., Cornwall, A., Dawes, A., DiCarlo, M. A., et al. (2005) · SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781849209823.n14 · Cited by 221 · see citing works
Silence in the Context of ‘Child Voice’
Lewis, A. (2009) · Children & Society · doi:10.1111/j.1099-0860.2008.00200.x · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Researching children's experience. Approaches and methods
Birch, M. (2006) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01589.x · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Manning, V., Best, D. W., Faulkner, N., & Titherington, E. (2009) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/1471-2458-9-377 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Living with an elephant: Growing up with parental substance misuse
Kroll, B. (2004) · Child & Family Social Work · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2206.2004.00325.x · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Renold, E., Holland, S., Ross, N. J., & Hillman, A. (2008) · Qualitative Social Work · doi:10.1177/1473325008097139 · Cited by 136 · see citing works
Parental Substance Misuse and Child Welfare
Kroll, B., & Taylor, A. (2001) · Thammasat University Digital Collections · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Looking after the family: a study of children looked after in kinship care in Scotland
Aldgate, J., & McIntosh, M. (2006) · Open Research Online - ORO (The Open University) · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Wilson, S., Cunningham‐Burley, S., Bancroft, A., Backett-Milburn, K. C., & Masters, H. (2007) · Qualitative Research · doi:10.1177/1468794107071427 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Discovering parental drug dependence: silence and disclosure<sup>1</sup>
Barnard, M., & Barlow, J. (2003) · Children & Society · doi:10.1002/chi.727 · Cited by 67 · see citing works
Parental Substance Misuse and Child Welfare
Anthony, N. (2003) · Probation Journal · doi:10.1177/0264550503504015 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
Working with Parental Substance Misuse: Dilemmas for Practice
Taylor, A. (2004) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bch132 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Silent voices : supporting children and young people affected by parental alcohol misuse
Adamson, J., & Templeton, L. J. (2012) · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Parental Alcohol Misuse in Complex Families: The Implications for Engagement
Taylor, A., Toner, P., Templeton, L., & Velleman, R. D. B. (2006) · The British Journal of Social Work · doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcl374 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Facing Family Change: Children's Circumstances, Strategies and Resources
Wade, A., & Smart, C. (2002) · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Parental problem drinking and its impact on children.
Tunnard, J. (2002) · HRB National Drugs Library (Health Research Board) · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Velleman, R. D. B. (2009) · HRB National Drugs Library (Health Research Board) · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Pixie‐dust and Privacy: What’s Happening to Children's Rights in England?
Dowty, T. (2008) · Children & Society · doi:10.1111/j.1099-0860.2008.00173.x · Cited by 26 · see citing works
"Looking Beyond Risk": Parental Substance Misuse: Scoping Study
Templton, L., Zohhadi, Z., Galvani, S., & Velleman, R. D. B. (2006) · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Brooks, R. (2003) · Journal of Substance Use · doi:10.1080/14659890306276 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Klee, H. (2010) · Taylor & Francis eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203166390_chapter_1 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Velleman, R. D. B., & Reuber, D. (2007) · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Meeting the needs of children whose parents have a serious drug problem
McKeganey, N., & Barnard, M. A. (2007) · Policy Press eBooks · doi:10.1332/policypress/9781861347329.003.0008 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Coad J, Lewis A. 2004. Engaging children and young people in research: literature review for the National Evaluation of Children's Fund (NECF). London: NECF.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
“I Feel It In My Heart When My Parents Fight”: Experiences of 7–9-Year-Old Children of Alcoholics
Tinnfält, A., Fröding, K., Larsson, M., & Dalal, K. (2018) · Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal · doi:10.1007/s10560-018-0544-6 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“Hill (2015) argues that little is known about the lives of COA from their own point of view.”
BackgroundMethodInfluential
- Authors
- Hill, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Strathclyde (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Hill, Louise
- Venue
- Children & Society
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2013-12-16
- Volume
- 29
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 344-354
- ISSN
- 0951-0605 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-0860
- OpenAlex
- W2163510896
- Cited by
- 32
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 1
- FWCI
- 3.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Locations
- Children & Society (publishedVersion)
- Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Economic and Social Research Council (PTA-033-2005-00025)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Children's Rights and Participation
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Family Support in Illness
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Child Welfare and Adoption
- Keywords
- parental alcohol problems, children of alcoholics, children's perspectives, secrecy, shame, stigma, children's agency, disclosure, children's communication
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
