Substance Use Patterns Among Two Generations

• In Event: Exploring Substance Use with the Rochester Youth Development Study: Session I

Abstract

Numerous studies have documented intergenerational transmission of substance use and related behaviors. Fewer studies have examined how developmental patterns of parent substance use are linked to those of their children. The goal of this paper is to examine whether the timing of parental substance use differentially impacts children’s own developmental patterns of substance use. I utilize a multilevel modeling framework to estimate and compare the effects of parent history and current use of substances on the substance use of their adolescent children. Results have implications for causal mechanisms explaining intergenerational continuity and discontinuity in substance use patterns.

Author

• Mauri Matsuda, RAND Corporation