J Korean Acad Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs JKAPMHN Journal of Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 1225-8482 2288-4653 The Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 10.12934/jkpmhn.2011.20.4.355 Original Article Parents' Drinking Behavior and Factors Related to Mental Health of their University Student Offspring Hyun Myungsun 1 Kang Heesun 2 Kim Hyunlye 3 Professor, College of Nursing, Ajou University, Korea. Associate Professor, Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University, Korea. Part-time Instructor, Yonsei University College of Nursing, Korea. Address reprint requests to: Kim, Hyun Lye, Yonsei University College of Nursing, 134 Shinchon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul 120-752, Korea. Tel: 82-2-2228-3279, Fax: 82-2-392-5440, dalim1977@hanmail.net 12 2011 31 12 2011 20 4 355 364 23 09 2011 05 12 2011 08 12 2011 © 2011 The Korean Academy of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2011 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Purpose

This study was conducted to investigate factors related to mental health of university student offspring according to their parents' drinking behavior.

 Methods

A cross-sectional design was used in this study. A convenience sample of university students were recruited from three universities in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, Korea. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires with 547 university students. The scales used for this study were the Korean version of the Children of Alcoholics Screening Test (CAST-K), Symptom Checklist-90-Revision (SCL-90-R), Rosenberg's Self-esteem Scale, and the Way of Coping Checklist.

 Results

Participants were classified into three groups; nondrinking-parents group (53.5%), social drinking-parents group (21.8%), and problem drinking-parents group (24.7%). Participants whose parents were problem drinkers had significantly higher scores on all the subcategories of SCL-90-R compared to those of other groups. In the participants group whose parents were problem drinkers, mental health problem had a significant positive correlation to passive coping methods and a negative correlation to self-esteem. There was a significant negative relationship between self-esteem and positive coping methods.

 Conclusion

The results of this study indicate the mental health of university students may be negatively affected by their parents' drinking behaviors. Special attention and early interventions are needed for university students whose parents have drinking problems.

 Alcohol drinking Parent Mental health Adult children Ajou University Medical Center 3-2008-0210

This research was supported by Ajou University Medical Center (No. 3-2008-0210).

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Adm.=administration.

 Mental Health Problems, Coping Skills, and Self-esteem of Participants (N=542)

†M±SD divided by number of item.

 Differences of Mental Health of Participants by Level of Parent's Drinking Problem (N=542) The Relationships among Mental Health Problems, Coping Styles, and Self-esteem in Problem Drinking Parents Group (N=134)