Parent's psychopathological profiles and adolescent offspring's substance use disorders

Abstract

Background: Substance use disorders (SUD) represent one of the most important public health problems which has an onset in adolescence. Although substantial data exist on adolescent substance use, studies examining the role of parental psychopathological profiles on adolescent offspring SUD are lacking. Thus, this study aimed to identify parental psychopathological profiles, and to examine the extent to which these profiles predict the presence of SUD in their offspring. Method: Data comes from the National Comorbidity Survey – Adolescent Supplement, a nationally representative survey of adolescents. This study examined data of 5887 adolescents (48.60% boys; M = 15.07 years, SD = 1.46) whose biological parents responded to the Parent Self-Administered Questionnaire. Parental psychopathological profiles were identified by means of latent class analysis. Profile class membership was used to predict offspring SUD in adolescence. Results: Different psychopathological profiles were identified in fathers and mothers. Among fathers, two psychopathological profiles were found: “normative class” (i.e., low psychopathological symptoms) and “high psychopathology class” (i.e., high psychopathological symptoms). Among mothers, three psychopathological profiles were found: “normative class” (i.e., low psychopathological symptoms), and “high psychopathology class” (i.e., high psychopathological symptoms), and “suicide class” (i.e., low psychopathological symptoms and drug use, but high on suicidal ideation or attempting to commit suicide). Father’s high psychopathological profile significantly predicted adolescent’s drug abuse. Mother’s high psychopathological profile significantly predicted adolescent’s nicotine dependence, alcohol or illicit drug abuse. Conclusions: Family-based interventions should include skills training in reducing parental SUD and other mental health problems.