Cluster analysis of adult children of alcoholics.

To determine if adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) are heterogeneous with respect to personality characteristics, 97 ACOAs took the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), and the results were analyzed through cluster analysis techniques. The resulting three-cluster solution showed that, in one subgroup (44%), all CPI scales were at or above the mean; another subgroup (40%) achieved scores at or slightly below the mean; and the third subgroup's (16%) scores were considerably below the mean. Therefore, clinical claims regarding ACOAs may only be accurate for a small proportion of ACOAs. Research on resiliency in children may explain why many ACOAs have normal personality profiles.