Whilst there can be no doubt as to how badly children can be affected as a result of living with parental alcohol misuse and parental domestic abuse, and often other additional problems, there is growing evidence that some children are not always as adversely affected by these problems as suggested by large areas of the research in this area.

Increased recognition is being given to a set of protective factors and processes (individual, familial and environmental) that, if present, can buffer children against the negative effects of parental alcohol misuse. This phenomenon is commonly called resilience. It is discussed in more detail elsewhere in this website.

› Read more on resilience

To understand more about identifying children who are living with parental alcohol misuse and parental domestic abuse and who may need help, you can find out more about common signs to look out for, and ideas of how to talk to children to find out if they are living with parental alcohol misuse and parental domestic abuse.

› Read more on how to identify children