NCJ Number
134139
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (1990) Pages: 313-332
Date Published
1990
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Data from a longitudinal study are used to identify childhood antecedents of later drug abuse.
Abstract
The study used a comprehensive data file begun 23 to 29 years ago. This data base was developed for the National Collaborative Perinatal Project initiated by the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke in the late 1950's. It included extensive information collected between 1959 and 1973 on 8,000 black Philadelphia children. The study began with the pre-natal period and included evaluations at six ages that ranged from birth to 7-years-old. For each mother-child pair, information was collected in the areas of obstetrics, neuro-psychology, neurology, psychology, pediatrics, and overall family health and social history. The study determined whether there is some combination of early childhood behavior patterns, traits, or problem up to 7-years-old together with maternal behavior patterns in infancy and early family life situations which show a significant relationship to substance use or abuse in early adulthood. The study found that an infant is at risk for later substance abuse when the following combination of personal characteristics and family situation are present: outgoing, responsive, assertive, impulsive, or willful child; an unfavorable family environment; a mother who is generally negative toward the infant, has a large number of small children, and a number of fetal deaths; and a child that is raised in a generally poor social environment. 4 tables and 28 references