The Influence of Parent-Child Separation on Young-Adult Substance Use Disorder: Measurement and Moderation as Sources of Heterogeneity

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Research suggests that parent-child separation predicts child maladjustment. However, because separation events (e.g., parental divorce, death, incarceration) represent widely heterogeneous contexts, methodological advances are needed to account for heterogeneity in types of separation. Moreover, prior research indicates that several variables (e.g., ethnicity, separation timing, gender, parental risk factors) may moderate effects. Finally, despite robust evidence for separation as a risk factor for offspring substance use in animals, there is little evidence in humans. The current study tested the relation between parent-child separation and young-adult substance use disorder (SUD), capturing heterogeneity in effects based on group differences and measurement of separation.

In a sample of 427 young adults from a larger longitudinal study oversampled for parental alcohol use disorder (AUD), effects of number, timing, and latent type of separation on (SUD) diagnosis were tested. Further, we explored whether these associations were moderated by gender, ethnicity, or parental AUD. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), two types of separation were found: parental deviance-related separation (i.e., divorce, arrest) and health-related separation (i.e., parental death, hospitalization). Logistic regression models were estimated in Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2016) to test effects of number, type, and timing of separation on lifetime SUD, also including interactions between type and timing with moderators (parental AUD, ethnicity, and child gender).

Main and moderated effects of separation on G2 SUD are presented in Tables 1 and 2. Early separation (prior to age 4) and parental deviance-related separation predicted greater odds of lifetime SUD. More separations and health-related separation predicted lower odds of SUD. However, these effects were qualified by interactions with ethnicity and parental AUD. Greater deviance-related separation increased the odds of SUD among Caucasian youth only. Conversely, greater health-related separation increased the odds of SUD among Latinx youth and decreased risk among Caucasian youth. Additionally, health-related separations increased the risk of SUD among youth with parental AUD but decreased the risk of SUD diagnosis among youth without parental AUD. Finally, young adults without parental AUD were slightly less likely to be diagnosed with SUD as number of separations rose, whereas those with parental AUD were unaffected by number of separations. There were no interactions with gender.

Results show that childhood separation increases risk for SUD. We captured heterogeneity in effects of parent-child separation in several ways. Most important, we employed PCA to measure type of separation, which has not been done previously in this literature. This allowed us to identify distinct influences of different separation types that were obscured by simply scoring the sum of separations as is typically done. Our findings concerning deviance-related separation are consistent with prior literature identifying parental divorce and arrest as risk factors for youth SUD. The protective effects of health-related separation may reflect reduced youth time spent with friends by increasing their responsibilities at home, and consequently decreasing risk for SUD. In addition, by including theoretically-relevant moderators, we identified distinct patterns of post-separation outcomes according to ethnicity and parental AUD. Future research should further account for potential selection effects driving heterogeneity in separation types.

Authors

• Austin Blake, Arizona State University
  Presenting Author

• Daniel McNeish, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laurie Chassin, Arizona State University
  Non-Presenting Author