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In this study children of alcoholic parents show deficits in social competence that begin in early childhood and escalate through middle adolescence. Teachers, parents, and children reported on the social competence of alcoholic parents and matched controls in a community sample assessed from ages 6 to 15. Hierarchical linear growth models revealed different patterns of change in social competence across development as a function of various indicators of competence. Moreover female alcoholic parents showed deficits in social competence in early childhood that receded in adolescence and that varied across subtypes of parent alcoholism. Implications of these findings for understanding the development of social competence in children, and at-risk children in particular are discussed.