Antisocial Tendency Among Drug-Addicted Adults: Potential Long-Term Effects of Parental Absence, Support, and Conflict During Childhood

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between perceptions of parent-child relations in the family of origin and antisocial tendency in a sample of drug-addicted adults. Data included retrospective accounts of childhood family factors, adolescent antisocial tendency, and self-reported hostility and risk-taking prior to treatment entry. A developmental model was tested that included adolescent antisocial tendency as a mediator of the relationship between childhood parenting factors and adulthood antisocial tendency. The effects of parental support and conflict were found to operate primarily through adolescent measures. Specifically, lower levels of parental support and higher levels of conflict with parents predicted greater adolescent antisocial tendency, which in turn predicted more hostility and risk-taking in adulthood. Thus, parental support appears to serve as a buffer against deviant behavior and drug use.