Family Study of the High-Risk Children of Opioid- and Alcohol-Dependent Parents

• NCJ Number: 196558
• Journal: American Journal on Addictions Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: Winter 2002 Pages: 41-51
• Author(s): Timothy E. Wilens M.D.; Joseph Biederman M.D.; Elizabeth Bredin; Amy L. Hahesy B.A.; Ana Abrantes B.A.; Deborah Neft B.A.; Rachael Millstein B.A.; Thomas J. Spencer M.D.
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 11 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH-K2001175A; DA-R2911315; DA-1192901A
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse; National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study used a high-risk study design that focused on the children of parents with opioid or alcohol-use disorders and children of parents with no substance use disorder (SUD), so as to identify the risk associated with the type of parental SUD.

Abstract

Using structured psychiatric interviews; cognitive assessments; and measures of social, academic, and family functioning, the study involved 96 families (187 parents and 183 children, mean age of 11.6 years). In 16 of the families, parents were opioid dependent (22 children); 14 families had parental alcohol dependence (22 children); and 66 families had parents with no SUD (139 children). Of the children who had opioid-dependent parents, 59 percent had at least one major psychopathological condition, compared to 41 percent of the alcohol-dependent group and 28 percent of the group with no parental SUD. The children of opioid-dependent and alcohol-dependent parents were of lower socioeconomic status and had significantly more difficulties in academic, social, and family functioning compared to the children of non-SUD parents. These findings, combined with the increasing consensus that certain risk factors for later SUD start in childhood with potentially treatable childhood-onset disorders, lead the authors to advise that approaches for preventing SUD's should target childhood precursors of SUD likely to occur in families in which the parents manifest SUD. 4 tables and 70 references