This study assessed the effect of the interrelationship of mothers' and fathers' tobacco and marijuana use with their personality attributes on some of their child rearing behaviors. We used a longitudinal design to analyze the data of 258 males and females who were seen four times over a 13-year period from early adolescence through young adult parenthood. Thirty-one percent of the multiple regression analyses revealed significant interactions between the effect of tobacco or marijuana use and a personality attribute on child rearing. The majority of these significant interactions suggested that protective personality characteristics were offset by substance use risks resulting in less adequate child rearing. If these results are substantiated in an experimental intervention, it suggests that having resilient personality attributes does not protect against the negative effects of tobacco or marijuana use on child rearing.
KeywordsTobacco use; marijuana use; personality; parenting Parental illicit drug use presents significant risks for children's physical, psychological, and social development. For example, studies show that children of illicit drug users are more likely to develop antisocial behaviors, especially drug use behavior (Fawzy, Coombs, & Gerger, 1983;Gfroerer, 1987;Jacob & Johnson, 1997). According to Wills, Sandy, Yaeger, and Shinar (2001), parental substance use is associated with lower levels of parental support and with higher levels of parent-child conflict. A study by Tarter, Blackson, Martin, Loeber, and Moss (1993) revealed that the overall quality of parental discipline provided in families of substance abusers was poorer than that in a control group. Bauman and Dougherty (1983) reported that substance-abusing mothers were found to have a higher frequency of aversive behaviors, and to engage more in commanding, disapproving, provoking, and threatening behaviors than nonsubstance users. However, other studies of the parenting behavior of illicit drug users have yielded mixed findings (Hogan 1998 In this study, we examine the relation between a history of parental smoking and drug use and parent personality attributes as they relate to parental affection and parental rules, using prospective, longitudinal data. Building on previous research, which assessed the main effects of parental drug use, this study focuses on the interactions of parental tobacco and drug use and parental personality and behavioral attributes as they relate to parenting behaviors (Brook, Richter, & Whiteman, 2000).The majority of research on the antecedents of the parent-child relationship seems to support the notion that parental personality characteristics are important predictors of parenting styles and the quality of the parent-child relationship (Kendler, Sham, & MacLean, 1997;Small, 1988;White, 1985). The strongest and most consistent set of results suggests that parents who experience intrapersonal distress are less likely to provide a nurturing family environment and a structured and organized home. For...