Childhood experiences of adults with alcohol and/or sexual, gambling, or drug difficulties.
A Research Study, posted on behalf of the University of Essex.
· How does somebody develop an addiction?
· Are there childhood experiences that make it more likely that someone will develop such difficulties?
· Do those with such difficulties have different kinds of influential child experiences?You can help us research and answer these questions. If you are over 18 and feel you have some difficulties with compulsive use of alcohol, drugs, sex or gambling then you are invited to follow this link and complete the online survey. It should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Hopefully you will find the questions interesting, whilst adding to the literature on compulsive behaviours to inform professionals in the future.
Please click here to read more, to participate in the study click “Answer the Questions” at the bottom of that page.
Thank you for your help.
This quiz made me think about whether I’ve had other compulsive behavior before and it was interesting, the answer is – yes! But my alcohol problem is by far the worst and any other compulsive behavior I have had is nothing compared to it. They forgot to add shopping, I used to shop compulsively and got into credit card debt when I was in my 20′s, but got that under control awhile ago and it wasn’t as bad as the drinking.
Rebecca
I started this questionnaire, but some of the questions were so ambivalent that I could not answer them, e.g. First question: I’m not drinking just now so the present tense does not apply. Also, when I was drinking, it never fitted any set pattern of abuse.
There are many others, some of them flitting between past and present: Have I ever abused drugs? Well, yes, but forty years ago. Does that apply?. Do my sexual thoughts interfere with everyday life? I know what the questionner is getting at, but it is my thoughts of inadequacy that interfere, not excessive sexual appetite. I had to give up in the end because I could see that some of my answers appeared contradictory. Also, 51+ for the top age range. I am knocking on seventy. Sometimes it seems that concern for addictive personalities grinds to a halt about 60 years old.
I know, I had to keep reminding myself to think of when it was the worst for me, but in the end I don’t really know if I really answered things right. I mean, wasn’t everyone touched inappropriately before the age of 18 – by other teenagers, not adults, which that’s just what happens because that’s what teenagers do, so I didn’t know if my answers were right. I do remember how bad the drinking got at least I answered that right.
I also found the questions clumsy/ difficult to answer because of the flitting between present and past tense (and the format did not leave an option to specify that you are referring to one or the other), and there did seem to be an assumption that drinkers (or other addicts) follow routine behaviours.
Also didn’t like the working of the childhood experiences – can’t remember the exact wording, but there was one that read along the lines of ‘were you made to feel unimportant’ – which I felt was really ‘blaming’ and highly subjective…I mean I can remember feeling that I was unimportant and it didn’t matter what I did because nothing I did or said seemed to have any impact on my circumstances, but I would not say that anyone (at least not my parents) ‘made’ me feel like that – I just think that that’s life sometimes (and obviously it depends on how you take things – had I had a different kind of personality, perhaps I’d have taken the initiative more, had a more positive attitude etc.)
Overall, I do definitely think the questions could do with tweaking, if the researchers want to collect valid, accurate information. However, having done quite a lot of research myself, I do know how difficult it is to write unambiguous questions, which allow for quantitive analysis without ‘steering’ the answers in some way.
Perhaps, I also feel that seeing that none of my family have drink problems, but I do, I don’t think I can blame anyone else.
To whom it may concern, My name is Molly Thomas and I am a senior at Osage High School in Osage Iowa.
I am writing an I-search about underage binge drinking and was wondering if I could do an online interview with someone who is knowledgeable about this topic or could of related to this as an underage drinker.
The interview would consist of 20 questions and you are allowed to pass if you are unsure or don’t feel like answering it.
I would greatly appreciate any help I could get.
If interested, please email me at mollythomas23@hotmail.com.
Thank you for your time!
Molly I have not seen any posts from any underage drinkers on here and i hope not to… But if you would like some info as to Wat it WAS LIKE to be an under age drinker when we was under age i am shore some people may help you out….I cant help you as i never drank until i was 18….I am shore as you may be aware that most underage drinkers can be found in most parks or spots of land were no one can disturb them and most of the time there is plenty of weed to go along with the cider…..A heck of a lot of underage drinkers have been brought up around drink and some weed to….Be it there mum or dad or sister blar blar blar…..Lets face it the days were you would go round the park and kick a ball about or play tennis or kiss chase have long gone for teenagers….It more like a 2 bottles of white lightning cider half a joint of skunk and and then a unprotected shag in the bush brought on by a mixture of drink drugs teenage hormones and thinking that the only way to fit in with the rest of the gang is to do all of the above and more….Technology plays a part to in underage drinking i personally think….But i will let you think about that one and come up with your own conclusion as to Wat i mean…You have me thinking a little bit now as i do no a lot of underage drinkers….And i was thinking Wat stopped me drinking until i was 18 and believe me i was a right f—-r in every other part of being a teenager apart from drink……For me it was that my dad was a hard working skin and bone alcoholic that was once a big shouldered dad that i looked up to….And i all ways told my friends that i did not want to end up like my dad…Right back from when i was a 12 year old kid in the big school…..As you can tell i took the same road as my dad for about 20 years……Strange ……Underage kids drinking cider…..Well its not cider its a made up chemical that maybe has half an apple in it…..Take white lightning cider or omega cider…..Now i was 26 i think when i woke one morning about 4 o’clock with blood poring from my nose …Not just a nose bleed …..There is a vain just behind your eyes that feeds them and other things well i had popped it due to blood pressure brought on by drink…The problem was i did not have many white blood cells due to booze as in white lightning so it was Wat they call a hemorrhage….Now the story is this i drank that for about 2 and a half years and i was 23 ish when i started that stuff only as it was so cheep to buy 1.29 a bottle…And in 2 and a half years it destroyed me ….Blood cells Vitamins….So Wat the hell is it doing to a 12 year old or 14 year old kid that has not previously built up a resistance to alcohol….It must be smashing there insides to bits……Take me…..That sounds wrong i no……But that day i was on the bed in hospital with this doctor bloke hanging over me……Well he said young man the state your body is in i normally only ever see a man in his 40s or 50s so that brings me back to Wat the hell is it going to do to the kids……Maybe you could take your research a little bit more a field and email harly street hospital or your local hospital about underage drinking and would they be so kind as to give you a figure of percent of kids that come in for alcohol abuse……Then at the same time email the AA and CAN and FRANK basically asking Wat you are asking on here……If you have no glory come back on here and tell me and i will try my best to push some buttons and get you the facts you may kneed to back your research up…AHHHH molly i see you are from USA well can frank AA and so on is in UK and i do not no if they are world wide but it makes no difference in fact it may give you a better scope as to is there any difference between underage drinkers around the world…..Depends how deep you would like to dig into it…..YOU seem to be on the right track so just keep digging and if you get stuck make a coffee and have a little think then email the best hospital or research group you can find…..If you break it down with alcohol be that a teenager or adult if that is Wat you are looking for….on a medical term you will get BLOOD …LIVER….KIDNEYS….HART…..BRAIN…..now there the main ones then you will have every other part of the body…..So if you put a project together about underage drinkers……TRY this……Number 1….Background of most underage drinkers as in family….Wat age did they first see alcohol around them……Wat age were they when they first tried alcohol…..Wat reason did they try alcohol…Do they like alcohol….How duos it make them feel…..How does it affect there home life and school lessons….Have they tried drugs due to alcohol….Have they tried sex due to alcohol…..Has it had any affects on there health up to now…….Wat does there family think about there drinking or does there family no about there drinking…..Is any body actively trying to stop them drinking ….Friends family teachers…..Do they them selves understand how addictive alcohol can be in such a short time…..Would they like to stop drinking….How do they think they can stop…Wat will they do with out alcohol how will they fill there spare time…..Basically you really knead to get the the hole scope on alcohol….I don’t no but you maybe just want to no why underage drinkers drink….But to do that you will at some point come across most of the above and much more…..Dont get to deep into it maybe like me…..Just put a project together about most of the above….Only you will no how long or short you want the thing to be so you are your own judge as to Wat goes into it…..Wish you all the luck in Wat you are trying to do…..I am shore you will do very well at it….Now knock umm dead molly c ya
Some times my advise knocks umm dead lol