Cocaine Addiction and Family Dysfunction: A Case-Control Study in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Family-related factors play a crucial role in the onset, development, and maintenance of drug misuse and addiction. To investigate the hypothesis that families with a cocaine addicted son display more dysfunction than control families, we applied the Personal Authority in the Family System and the Self-Report Measure of Family Functioning to 67 case triads (child–father–mother) in which the son was an inpatient with a primary diagnosis of cocaine abuse or dependence and to 67 matched control triads from the community (Pelotas, Brazil) in 2000. Case children, mothers, and fathers were significantly more likely to present nuclear family triangulation than their matched control subjects. In addition, case triads had a significantly greater chance of perceiving family functioning as enmeshment. These results suggest both structural and functional differences in these families. We argue for the need of interventions in the family as a whole and for further research in this area.

Keywords:

• case-control
• cocaine addiction
• family disfunctionality
• family homeostasis
• Personal Authority in the Family System (PAFS-Q)
• Self-Report Measure of Family Functioning (SRMFF)

Notes

¹The journal's style utilizes the category substance abuse as a diagnostic category. Substances are used or misused; living organisms are and can be abused. Editor's note.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ricardo Tavares Pinheiro

Ricardo Tavares Pinheiro, M.D., is currently professor in Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology at the Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He graduated in medicine from the Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil and subsequently took a residency program in Psychiatry. His M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology is from the Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal; his Ph.D. in Medicine (Medical Psychology) is from the Universidade do Porto, Portugal.

Karen Amaral Tavares Pinheiro

Karen Amaral Tavares Pinheiro, M.Sc., graduated in Psychology at the Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Brazil. She took the Master's Degree in Heath and Behavior Program at the Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Brazil.

Pedro Vieira da Silva Magalhães

Pedro Vieira da Silva Magalhães, M.D., is a psychiatrist and is currently taking his Master's Degree in Health and Behavior in the Catholic University of Pelotas. His main research interests include process research in psychotherapy and research synthesis within psychiatry.

Bernardo Lessa Horta

Bernardo Lessa Horta, M.D., graduated in Medicine at the Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Brazil. Dr. Horta is associate professor at the Post-Graduate Program in Epidemiology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas. He has a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from McGill University.

Ricardo Azevedo da Silva

Ricardo Azevedo da Silva, Ph.D., Head of the School of Psychology in Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Brazil, graduated in Psychology at the Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Brazil. He has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology (Universidade do Minho, Portugal) and is Professor of Psychopathology and Clinical Psychology.

Paulo Luis Rosa Sousa

Paulo Luis Rosa Sousa, Ph.D., currently is Professor in Psychopathology at the Psychology School, Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Brazil. He graduated in medicine at the Faculdade Federal de Ciências Médicas de Porto Alegre and subsequently completed the residency program in Pediatrics at the Hospital dos Servidores do Estado, Porto Alegre. He took a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the Universidad de Belgrano, Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a psychoanalyst at the Sociedade Psicanalítica de Pelotas (IPA), Brazil.

Manuela Fleming

Manuela Fleming, Ph.D., currently is Associate Professor in Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar at the Universidade do Porto, Portugal. He graduated in Psychology at the Université Paris VII and subsequently took a Ph.D. in Medical Psychology and Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar at the Universidade do Porto, Portugal. She is a psychoanalyst at the Sociedade Portuguesa de Psicoanalise (IPA), Lisboa, Portugal.