The children of alcoholics life-events schedule: a stress scale for children of alcohol-abusing parents.

Children of alcoholic parents have been shown to be at risk for the development of mental health problems. However, there is little empirical research that would allow one to determine which of these children are most at risk. Hypothesizing that the amount of parental drinking-related stress a child experiences may be a factor that discriminates those children of alcoholics who are most at risk from others, the Children of Alcoholics Life-Events Schedule (COALES) was developed. Using samples of high-school students, the COALES was found to have satisfactory test-retest reliability, internal-consistency reliability and construct and concurrent validity. Children who self-identified as having an alcoholic parent reported higher levels of negative events and lower levels of positive events than did their peers from nonalcoholic homes. Scores on the positive- and negative-event subscales were significantly correlated with the children's scores on measures of anxiety and depression.