Maternal Depressive Symptoms, Adolescent Daughters’ Substance Use, and Father Residence in Minority Families

abstract

Background: Maternal depression has been linked to substance use in adolescents, but the mechanisms of the relationship between maternal depression and adolescent substance use are less clear. Specifically, previous literature has overlooked the role of fathers as a potential protective or exacerbating factor in buffering this relationship. Objectives: The goal of this study was to investigate the association between maternal depressive symptoms and adolescent substance use, exploring father’s residential status as a moderator for adolescents living with a mother with depressive symptoms. Method: Paper-and-pencil surveys were administered to a sample of 176 mothers and their adolescent daughters aged 14-18, predominantly identifying as African American/Black. Participants included a subset of mothers with HIV. Results: The results revealed that maternal depressive symptoms were not directly associated with adolescent substance use. However, father’s residential status was found to be a significant moderator in the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and adolescent substance use. Specifically, when fathers were involved in the daughter’s life (residential or non-resident), substance use was higher in adolescents of mothers with high depressive symptoms than in those of mothers with low depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The results suggest that varied family dynamics are critical to understanding engagement in substance use among adolescent girls, including the influence of both mothers and fathers.

Keywords:

• Adolescents
• alcohol use
• marijuana use
• substance use
• father residence
• maternal depression

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Richard Einsporn, Ph.D., Dale Deuble, and Mohsen Zaker Esteghamati for their helpful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was sponsored by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (F31 MH076697-01A1).