Theoretically, several perspectives predict impaired school adjustment and related psychopathology in these children. There is extensive evidence regarding the genetic influence on externalizing behaviour, and genetic co-variance between different kinds of externalizing behaviour [15-17]. Accordingly, one should expect children of alcohol abusers to have an increased probability of not only developing alcohol problems themselves, but also other kinds of externalizing behaviour. Prenatal alcohol exposure can also lead to poor academic performance [6,18]. Risk may also be transmitted by social strains linked to parental alcohol abuse, such as impaired parenting, or contextual factors, such as limited socioeconomic resources [19-23]. These burdens may make the children more susceptible to maladjustment, although each risk factor usually makes only small contributions to explaining variance in outcomes [24].
