Alcohol prevention and treatment professionals should recognize that children and adolescents that experience parental divorce/separation may be more vulnerable to developing alcohol dependence than those from intact households, and that this vulnerability may be increased when parental alcohol problems are present as well. This underscores the need for comprehensive client and family assessment by clinicians to identify those in particular need of early intervention for alcohol problems. Finally, further research is needed to better identify the specific factors, both environmental and genetic, that increase the risk for lifetime alcohol dependence among those who experience childhood or adolescent parental divorce/separation.
