Family Dynamic and Structural Correlates of Adolescent Substance Abuse:

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between family factors and adolescents substance abuse by comparing the families of adolescents who do not abuse drugs or alcohol with the families of those who do. The subjects were 89 white adolescent males, with a mean age of 16 years, primarily from the rural areas of a Mid-Atlantic state. The relationship between each of the family dynamic factors (cohesion, adaptability, family strengths, family togetherness, parents' marital happiness, and parental drug and alcohol use) and adolescent substance abuse was significant at the .0005 level. Four of the fice structural variables also proved to be significantly related to adolescent substance abuse. The results of this study support and expand upon previous research indicating that adolescent drug and alcohol use is greatly affected by family factors and that adolescents who abstain from drug and alcohol use and abuse come from families who are qualitatively different from the families of adolescents who use and abuse substances.