Creativity in alcoholic and nonalcoholic families

Abstract

A battery of creativity tests was administered to 56 families (fathers, mothers, and their pubescent sons) representing three groups. Group A+ was comprised of recovering alcoholic fathers with a family history of alcoholism ( n = 19). Group NA+ consisted of nonalcoholic fathers with a family history of alcoholism ( n = 18). Group NA− was composed of nonalcoholic fathers without a family history of alcoholism ( n = 19). None of the mothers or sons in these three family groups was alcoholic. All subjects completed the Creativity Personality Scale, the four Origence/Intellectence scales from the Adjective Check List, and the How Do You Think Test. Moreover, fathers and sons received two divergent thinking tests, and mothers rated their sons using a special scale from the Adjective Check List. Results indicate that alcoholic fathers and their sons had generally lower creativity scores than fathers and sons of the other two groups. The mothers did not differ. Moreover, there were significant correlations between fathers' and sons' creativity scores and significant interactions, indicating that the father-son relationships differed among the three groups. The implications of these results are discussed.