This study determined the influence of adolescent alcohol abuse on academic achievement. Substance Abusing (SA), Conduct Disordered (CD), and Normal Student Control (NSC) adolescents, stratified on Family History (FH) of alcoholism and gender, were tested on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT). While SAs and CDs did not differ on the PIAT, both had lower subtest and total test standard scores than NSCs. FH + SAs did not differ from FH + CDs on the Spelling subtest, but both groups had significantly lower scores than F H -NSCs. For SAs and NSCs there were no significant correlations between measures of alcohol intake and PIAT subtest scores.
Are adolescent alcohol abuse and a positive Family History (FH) of alcoholism associated with lower academic achievement in males and females? There is a dearth of information on the effects of adolescent alcohol abuse on academic achievement. found that for high school students, learning problems were related to alcohol problems. Braggio and Pishkin (1991) reported that for adolescent psychiatric patients, alcohol abusers did not differ from non-alcohol abusers on the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT). Hyphantis, Kantras, Liakos, and Marselos (1991) reported that Greek high school students with a FH + of alcoholism consumed alcohol more frequently and exhibited poorer school performance than students with a FH-of alcoholism. These authors did not examine the direct influence of alcohol abuse on academic achievement independent of FH of alcoholism. Therefore, based on these published studies, we do not know whether adolescent alcohol abuse is indeed related to lower academic achievement and which areas of academic achievement are most likely to be adversely influenced by alcohol abuse.
Available studies on FH of alcoholism and academic achievement indicate that subjects with a F H + of alcoholism do less well than those with a FH-of alcoholism. Marcus (1986) tested 7-to 12-year-old children of alcoholic and control mothers on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT). Children with a FH + of alcoholism -