Relationships among Parental Alcoholism, Sense of Belonging, Resilience and Depressive Symptoms in Korean People.

Abstract

Although adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) are at risk for alcohol or other drug abuses and serious emotional problems, including depressive symptoms, “resilient” ACOAs grow up striving to adapt, survive and succeed under stressful conditions. Recent studies have reported that one of the key factors increasing resilience is sense of belonging, which also protects individuals from depressive symptoms. However, the relationships among depressive symptoms, sense of belonging, and resilience have rarely been studied in ACOAs. Therefore, this descriptive and comparative study between ACOAs and non-ACOAs aims to explore the relationships among parental alcoholism, sense of belonging, resilience, and depressive symptoms, especially among Korean people living in Midwestern cities of the States. Based on a literature review, a conceptual framework was proposed: Sense of belonging was suggested as a key factor enhancing ACOAs’ resilience, and resilience was defined as an acquired capacity to translate life adversities associated with parental alcoholism into desirable outcomes, i.e., having few or no depressive symptoms. Using a web-based survey, including the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Sense of Belonging Instrument-Psychological, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and family-related questionnaires, data from 206 Koreans and Korean Americans were collected. The mean age of the sample was 28.4 years (S.D. = 6.9), 40.2% were males, and 77.8% were undergraduate or graduate students. The mean BDI-II score was 8.9 (S.D. = 8.1), and nearly 15% were identified as ACOAs. Preliminary analysis results revealed significant relationships among parental alcoholism, depressive symptoms, sense of belonging, resilience, social support, family functioning, parental mental health problems, and domestic violence. Sense of belonging was the only mediator between parental alcoholism and depressive symptoms. Structural equation modeling confirmed sense of belonging as the most powerful and proximal factor resisting depressive symptoms, although resilience and social support also mediated some effects of parental alcoholism on depressive symptoms. Parental alcoholism had no direct effect on depressive symptoms. These findings provide important evidence for understanding both the psychological positive and risk factors of depressive symptoms. In addition, the findings will contribute to establishing fundamental knowledge, strengthened by cultural sensitivity, for health care providers to develop effective intervention programs for Korean ACOAs.