How Alcohol Abuse Leads to Relationship Issues - Essay Example

Alcohol abuse causes strain in social relationships too. Such persons often fail to act on their obligations as normal adults. The person becomes socially less active and feels more secure in their alcohol consumption. Any socialization process is strengthened through cooperation and communication but that falls back on the person involved with alcohol. Apart from violence, other issues that start surfacing in the life of a person who indulges in alcohol abuse are economic insecurity, jealousy, and infidelity culminating in divorce (Alcohol Problems in Intimate Relationships 2003).

Experience has a significant impact on current behavior. Widom et al. (2001) cite the study done by Ireland and Widom on 908 children with legally proven abuse and another group of 667 children without any abusive histories. The study was to find out whether childhood victimization was resulting in alcohol-related abuse during adult age. The study did conclude that in the case of females alcohol abuse during adult age was related to childhood victimization; however, the same study also concluded that childhood victimization in the case of males was not causing alcohol or other drug abuse. A follow-up study also came to the same conclusion. The authors further argue that physical or sexual abuse in childhood among male alcohol abusers was slightly higher than the rates noticed in the general population. The authors emphasized that no firm conclusion can be drawn about the relationship between adult alcohol abuse in men with childhood victimization.

Thus, it becomes amply clear that alcohol abuse does impact the marital and social relationships of the person. There appears a strong relationship between adult alcohol abuse in women and their childhood victimization though nothing is conclusively stated about its effect on males.  More studies are needed in this area to understand the mechanisms that link child abuse with adult alcohol abuse in more clear terms. This will certainly help experts to cope with the issue during the child abuse stage itself so that the person does not turn to alcohol abuse at a later stage.