roughly three categories: alcoholism, perpetuation of adolescence, and rejection. Problems have been extensively identified and studied on the problems associated with adult children of alcoholics. Much of the research on this subject shows that certain characteristics are present in adult children who had exposure to parental alcoholism. These include: lack of trust, hesitancy to explore emotional behavior, hiding of certain feelings, and mood swings from extreme joy to deep depression. As well, adult children of alcoholics are often found to have problems within their own interpersonal relationships, and counseling is seen as an effective alternative in order to break the pattern of self-destructive behavior (Lincoln & Janze, 1988; Wilson & Nagoshi, 1988; Woititz, 1983).
Adult children who perpetuate adolescence seem to have a two dimensional model of the world. They believe that they are independent and that they are owed something from the world, but they also retreat to parents or relatives because they have a difficult time dealing with worldly affairs. This is coupled with an often abusive personality structure that vehemently strikes out at the parent or relative (Toufexis, 1987; York & Wachtel, 1978 and 1984; Schaef, 1986).
Another predominant theme of adult behaviors and their legacy from parents is that of rejection. Many psychologists believe that the greatest terror a child can have is that he or she might be rejected by parents or other loved ones (Evoy, 1981). Although the research picture often indicates that continual rejection is somewhat rare, minimal types of rejection will sometimes stay with the child well into adulthood and manifest themselves in a variety of emotional behaviors which tend to form a rejection continuum (Block, 1955; Coppersmith, 1967; Rosenberg, 1963).
The problem of adult children postponing adulthood is rising. In fact, a comparison of survey data from 1980 and 1986 shows ...