A sibling study of sensation seeking and opiate addiction

Substance abuse and its correlative personality traits may have familial associations. We assessed the relationship between sensation seeking and drug use in 201 opiate addicts and 133 of their siblings in a cross-sectional family study. Probands and their drug-abusing siblings showed greater sensation seeking than their non-drug-abusing siblings and this diagnosis accounted for the most variance in regression models. Degree of sensation seeking correlated among drug-abusing siblings and with age of first drug use. The results are discussed in terms of substance abuse typologies and for using sensation-seeking assessments for prevention and treatment of substance abuse.     

Vulnerability to substance abuse and psychopathology among siblings of opioid abusers.

Vulnerability to drug abuse and psychopathology was explored among siblings of 201 opioid-addicted probands. Disorders were evaluated based on family histories among 476 siblings; a subset of 133 siblings was also directly interviewed. Results indicated that a) siblings of opiate addicts had substantially higher rates of several disorders in comparison with rates in the community; b) as compared with parents of addicts, siblings had elevated rates of substance abuse and antisocial personality; c) the presence of a major psychiatric disorder significantly increased the risk of developing substance abuse among siblings; and d) psychopathology appeared to precede drug abuse in terms of age of onset in this group. Results obtained with the interviewed sample of siblings were replicated in the overall group. Findings of the study are discussed in terms of implications for the classification and treatment of substance abuse.     

General and specific childhood risk factors for depression and drug disorders by early adulthood

OBJECTIVE: To identify childhood risk factors that predict depression and drug disorders by early adulthood, distinguishing between general risk factors for both disorders and specific risk factors for each individual disorder. METHOD: Within a longitudinal community study (N = 360), familial and behavioral-emotional characteristics were assessed in early childhood (ages 5, 6, and 9 years). At age 21, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, version III-revised, provided lifetime diagnoses of major depression and drug abuse/dependence. RESULTS: Sibling substance use disorders predicted depression and drug disorders for both genders. Feelings of anxiety, depression, and peer rejection were general predictors for females. Specific risk factors for depression were parental depression and anxious/depressed behavior in both genders and peer problems for males. Specific risk factors for drug abuse/dependence were larger family size, lower socioeconomic status, hyperactivity, attention problems, and aggression. Parental substance abuse and having younger parents were specific risk factors for drug disorders in males. CONCLUSIONS: Familial and behavioral-emotional risk factors for depression and drug disorders were primarily specific, suggesting separate pathways. The unique perspectives of multiple informants facilitate early identification.     

Adult mortality in the light of criminality,substance abuse,and behavioural and family-risk factors in adolescence

In their general theory of crime, Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) advanced the argument that different aspects of antisocial behaviour and health-endangering forms of behaviour are derived from the same personality characteristic, namely low self-control. This raises expectations of high intercorrelations between antisocial behaviour, criminality and health-compromising activities. The objective of the present study was to examine mortality risk at an adult age (including sudden violent death and death due to accidents) as a consequence of adolescent behavioural problems and adverse home-upbringing conditions, and further to examine whether subjects who had a criminal conviction as an adult were over-represented among those who died prematurely. An alternative hypothesis was that disproportionately high future premature mortality among males with a record of early antisocial behaviour (and many family risk factors) is largely accounted for by a subgroup of antisocial subjects with strong alcohol and/or drug problems. In total, 7577 persons about to undertake compulsory military service, 18 years old in 1969–70, responded to questions about their family background and antisocial behaviour, and were followed up in registers of mortality, criminality and alcohol or drug abuse up to the age of 33. The results revealed that early contact with the police, truancy and school misconduct, and also the home-upbringing variables, divorce and parents' nervous disorders, were significant predictors of later premature mortality. When future registered abusers were excluded, the prognostic power of these variables was reduced; despite this, the same indicated risk factors still had a general impact on premature adult mortality. However, adolescent risk had less impact on deaths from accidents than on other types of death. It was also found that males had criminal convictions were over-represented among those who died prematurely. Excluding known cases of alcohol and drug abuse, there was a slight, almost negligible, increased risk of motality among males with criminal records. It is concluded that the higher likelihood of mortality among offenders can be attributed largely to the existence of a small group of alcohol and/or drug abusers who run a hight risk of dying prematurely. The generality of Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory with respect to mortality is called into question.     

The association of early risk factors to opiate addiction and psychological adjustment

It is clear that family/parental peer and individual risk factors that appear early in life contribute to increased susceptibility to addiction. This study aimed to determine the relationship between those risk factors, the development of opiate addiction, and the development of psychological maladjustment in addicts. A total of 252 subjects were selected from in and around Baltimore, aged less than 40 years, and 12 or older at the onset of opiate addiction. There were 342 controls from the same neighbourhood, matched for age, race and place of reidence, but free from opiate addiction. Ten risk factors in the five domains of family disruption, peer deviance, personal deviance, psychological symptoms and lack of protective factors, were studied. The addicts and the non-addicts had different risk profiles comparing black and white people, whilst a significant differentiation was found for each race: white addicts scored significantly higher than non-white on all of the risk factors, whereas black addicts scored significantly higher than black non-addicts on risk factors denoting peer school misbehaviour and fighting, personal drug abuse and behavioural deviance. The study has implications for both the course and treatment of drug addiction. The findings suggest that as well as being a causal agent, drug addiction is a concomitant feature of a variety of problems. Copyright © 1997 Whurr Publishers Ltd.     

Patterns of drug use and sensation-seeking among adolescents in Norway

The relationship between personality and drug use was investigated by studying patterns of sensation-seeking behaviour and drug use among adolescents. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 1027 Norwegian senior high school students aged 16 to 19 in the greater Oslo area. The response rate was 97%. The sensation-seeking subscores showed moderate to strong association with the use of the different drugs. A canonical correlation analysis yielded 3 significant variates: in the drug use domain the first dimension correlated with the use of legal drugs and inhalants, the second with cannabis and tranquillizers and the third with tobacco. In the sensation-seeking domain the first dimension was almost synonymous with the disinhibition scale, the second with experience-seeking, and the third correlated highly negatively with thrill-, adventure- and experience-seeking. The results support the assumption that a strong link exists between sensation seeking and drug use. They further show the importance of taking different subdimensions of the sensation-seeking trait into account for prevention and treatment of drug use and abuse.     

Factors associated with alcohol consumption, problem drinking, and related consequences among high school students in Taiwan

This research evaluated the risk factors associated with alcohol consumption, problem drinking, and related consequences among high school students in Taiwan. A total of 779 10th grade students from four randomly selected high schools in eastern Taiwan were included in the survey. Survey data were self-reported by students and analyzed using logistic regression methods. The results showed that alcohol consumption and problem drinking was 2.22-2.71-fold greater in male than in female adolescents. Parents and peer groups were the determinants influencing alcohol consumption, and these influences could be enhanced particularly by the drinking behaviors of fathers and peer groups, and the relationship of students with their peer groups. The probability of developing adolescent problem drinking was fourfold greater in students whose fathers had habits of drinking. Ethnicity had a notable impact on the risk of problem drinking. The occurrence of problem drinking among indigenous adolescents was 2.98-fold higher than among Hans, indicating a diversity of biological factors, social norms, and expectation for alcohol drinking between these two ethnic groups. This study suggests that a policy for preventing alcohol abuse among high school students should start by addressing the two major associated problems: a need to earn peer group recognition, and the lack of family support among at-risk students.     

A Structural Equation Model of Drug Abuse Among Secondary Students in Hong Kong

The purpose of this study is to investigate the phenomena of drug abuse among secondary students in Hong Kong using a social control approach. This study is based on the Hong Kong Youth Health Behaviors Survey, which was a self-administered web-based survey carred out in May–July, 2010. The survey was targeted at two cohort of students, 14 years old (secondary 2) and 16 years old (secondary 4), within the Hong Kong public school system. A total of 31 secondary schools participated in the study and 2,084 secondary 2 and 1,466 secondary 4 students completed the survey. This study employs structural equation modeling to analyze the data. Major findings are as follows. First, resilient factors, namely, values and self-efficacy, both contribute negatively to drug abuse. Second, protective factors, namely, parental, school and peer support factors contribute negatively to drug abuse, and the school support factor is particularly prominant. Third, risk factors, namely, psychosomatic symptoms, study stress and peer influence, all contribute positive to drug abuse, and the peer influence is particularly influential. Finally, values as a resilient factor mediates the contribution of risk factors and protective factors on drug abuse by strengthening the former and weakening the latter.     

A developmental analysis of sociodemographic,family, and peer effects on adolescent illicit drug initiation

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of sociodemographic, family, and peer predictors on the developmental patterns of illicit drug initiation from ages 12 to 21 years. METHOD: A gender-balanced, ethnically diverse urban sample of 808 children in Seattle was surveyed at age 10 in 1985 and followed prospectively to age 21 in 1996. Discrete-time survival analysis was used to assess the effects of sociodemographic, family, and peer factors on the risk of initiation. RESULTS: The risk for initiating illicit drug use increased steadily from ages 12 to 21. High family conflict, low family bonding, and high peers' antisocial activities predicted higher risk of initiation across this developmental period. The effect of family bonding began to decline after age 18, while the effect of peers' antisocial activities began to increase after age 15. Few gender and ethnic differences were found. CONCLUSIONS: Prevention programs need to include family and peer factors as important targets. Parents should create a warm and supportive family environment with appropriate supervision and control throughout adolescence. Association with antisocial peers should be reduced, especially in high school. Interventions addressing these family and peer factors should have beneficial effects across gender and ethnic groups.     

A prospective study of adolescent risk and protective factors for problem gambling among young adults

There is a paucity of research examining prospective predictors of problem gambling. The current study utilised a large longitudinal data set (N = 2328) to examine a large range of adolescent risk and protective factors for problem gambling in young adulthood. These risk and protective factors covered the domains of the community, family, school, peer group and individual. Numerous predictors associated with the family, school and peer-individual were statistically significant in analyses adjusted for gender and age. However, in the fully adjusted multivariate analyses, only two predictors were statistically significant. Within this model, gender (female) was associated with a reduced risk of young adult problem gambling, while family rewards for prosocial involvement moderated the risk relationship between adolescent alcohol use and young adult problem gambling. These findings highlight the importance of adolescent alcohol use and family environment as potentially modifiable predictors of young adult problem gambling.     

Gender differences in the specificity of alcoholism transmission among the relatives of opioid addicts

Gender differences in the specificity of drug versus alcohol transmission were examined among 201 opioid addicts and their 877 first-degree relatives using direct interviews and a structured family history method based on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia Research Diagnostic Criteria. A strong association of parental alcoholism with alcoholism among the proband addicts was found, suggesting some specificity for drug versus alcohol abuse. We also found that among the 477 siblings, those with alcoholism alone did not have parents with drug abuse and those parents with drug abuse did not have children with alcoholism alone. Rates of parental alcoholism were higher in alcoholic female than in alcoholic male probands, suggesting greater female "loading" was needed in order to become alcoholic. This increased loading in women was also found among the siblings, but alcoholic parents appeared to transmit a nonspecific tendency for either drug or alcohol abuse to their female children. Thus, it may take a greater "dose" of parental transmission for a woman to become a substance abuser, and transmission of alcoholism may be specific in men, but not in women.     

The differential impact of risk factors on illicit drug involvement in females

AbstractBackground Initiation of drug use and progression to abuse/dependence involve complex pathways. Potential risk factors may correlate with initiation or progression or both. Are there risk factors that associate with illicit drug use or illicit drug abuse/dependence? Is the magnitude of the association the same for use and abuse/dependence? Does this pattern of association differ across categories of drugs?Methods We used data from female-female adult twins to assess the association of 26 putative risk factors with use and abuse/dependence of six illicit psychoactive drugs. Drug involvement was represented by independent dichotomous outcomes and by a single ordinal variable. Odds ratios were obtained by logistic regression and a continuation ratio was used to test the magnitude of association.Results Factors associate in similar patterns with different drug categories. Some associated factors interact only with initiation while others relate with both stages. There is a stronger association of significant socio-demographic factors with drug use while the psychiatric diagnoses are more strongly associated with progression to abuse/dependence.Conclusions Risk factors may be use-specific, abuse/dependence-specific or common to use and abuse/dependence. The trend of associations is similar across different illicit drugs. This suggests complex, interacting pathways that determine drug habits in individuals. These results are hypothesis-generating and future studies of causal relationships may draw from the outcomes presented in these analyses.     

Family relations,family climate and sexual abuse

In Europe, 10-20% of all women and 3-10% of all men have experienced sexual abuse before the age of 18, according to surveys. Psychosocial problems are often seen as both short- and long-term consequences of such abuse. Family dysfunction may be seen as both a risk factor for abuse and a result of the disclosure of abuse. The aim of this research was to study how adolescents and adults, sexually abused during their childhood, experienced their family life and family climate in their family of origin. A clinical sample of 18 adolescent girls and 20 adult women comprised the study group. The methods used were a semi-structured interview and the questionnaire Family Climate Test. The majority of the participants kept quiet about the abuse during their childhood. The abuse took place for an average of 2.5 years among the adolescents and 6 years in the adult group. Secrecy, isolation and family problems were typical attributes in the interviews. The majority of both adolescents and women described their relationships in the family of origin as deviant or interrupted, with a reversed (negative) pattern on the Family Climate Test. This meant a low level of closeness and a high level of distance in the families combined with a low level of spontaneity and a high level of chaos. The study, even if relatively small and based on clinical cases, gives support to earlier research, which shows that sexual abuse in general, but especially intra-familial sexual abuse, is associated with family dysfunction.     

Significance of self-reported drug or alcohol use among inner-city teenagers

To explore problems associated with substance abuse, a sample of 101 inner-city teenagers (59 females and 42 males) completed measures of drug and alcohol involvement, resilience, negative peer relationships, and emotional and behavioral problems. Youths who reported any past use of drugs or alcohol (N=47) were significantly more likely than those who reported no past use of drugs or alcohol (N=54) to relate problems that resulted from their drug or alcohol involvement, more exposure to violence, more peer involvement with drugs and alcohol, less protective factors, and more emotional and behavioral problems. These findings underscore the interrelationship between self-reported drug or alcohol use and a variety of other problems among inner-city teenagers.     

Family, peer and individual factors related to methylenedioxymethamphetamine use in Taiwanese adolescents

Examination of the correlates of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use is crucial for the development and implementation of effective prevention programs for adolescents. The aim of the present study was therefore to identify the family, peer and individual factors that were related to MDMA use in Taiwanese adolescents. Two hundred adolescents who used MDMA and 200 who did not use MDMA were recruited into the study. The family, peer and individual factors related to MDMA use were examined using chi(2) automatic interaction detection (CHAID) analysis. The results indicated that the adolescents who had more friends involved with substance use, disruptive family and attitude favoring MDMA use were more likely to use MDMA. Multiple factors of family, peer and individuals were related to MDMA use among Taiwanese adolescents. This knowledge may be helpful when designing and implementing preventive intervention programs.     

Substance abuse, comorbidity, and sensation seeking: Gender differences

Two hundred sixty-two probands and 261 of their relatives with DSM-III-R diagnoses of drug and alcohol abuse and/or anxiety disorders completed the Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale. It was hypothesised that subjects with both substance abuse disorders and comorbid anxiety disorders would have lower sensetion-seeking profiles than subjects with substance abuse alone. This was confirmed in women, with thrilland adventure-seeking scores showing significant differences between pure substance abusers and those with a comorbid anxiety disorder, lending support to theories that substance abusers are a heterogeneous group. In men, there were fewer significant differences between diagnostic groups. If substance abusers are indeed a heterogeneous group, with some motivated by high sensation-seeking needs, a better understanding of these motivations can lead to more effective strategies of prevention and treatment, according to etiology.     

Childhood sibling relationships as a predictor of major depression in adulthood: a 30-year prospective study

OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the quality of sibling relationships in childhood as a predictor of major depression in adulthood. METHOD: Study subjects were 229 men selected for mental and physical health and followed from ages 20 through 50 and beyond as part of a study of adult psychosocial development. Data were obtained from interviews with participants and their parents at intake and from follow-up interviews and self-report questionnaires completed by participants at regular intervals. These data were used to rate the quality of relationships with siblings, the quality of parenting received in childhood, and family history of depression as well as the occurrence, by age 50, of major depression, alcoholism, and use of mood-altering drugs (tranquilizers, sleeping pills, and stimulants). RESULTS: Poorer relationships with siblings prior to age 20 and a family history of depression independently predicted both the occurrence of major depression and the frequency of use of mood-altering drugs by age 50, even after adjustment for the quality of childhood relationships with parents. Poor relationships with parents in childhood did not predict the occurrence of depression by age 50 when family history of depression and the quality of relationships with siblings were taken into account. Quality of sibling relationships and family history of depression did not predict later alcohol abuse or dependence. CONCLUSIONS: Poor sibling relationships in childhood may be an important and specific predictor of major depression in adulthood. Further study of links between childhood sibling relationships and adult depression is warranted.     

Psychiatric comorbidity and the 16-month trajectory of substance-abusing and substance-dependent juvenile offenders.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the concurrent correlates of internalizing and externalizing disorders among substance-abusing and substance-dependent juvenile offenders and to determine the association between psychiatric comorbidity and psychosocial functioning of the youths 16 months later. METHOD: Participants were 118 juvenile offenders meeting DSM-III-R criteria for substance abuse or dependence and their families. A multisource measurement battery was used to assess drug use, criminal activity, family relations, peer relations, school functioning, and out-of-home placements. RESULTS: Comorbidity for externalizing disorders was associated with high rates of antisocial behavior and predicted worse 16-month outcomes than substance abuse alone or substance abuse with comorbid internalizing disorders. For criminal activity and drug use, the presence of internalizing disorders buffered the deleterious effect of externalizing disorders on substance-abusing and substance-dependent juvenile offenders. CONCLUSIONS: Even in substance-abusing delinquents, a population already extreme in antisocial behavior, the presence of externalizing disorders indicates high risk for deterioration.