Parental warmth and risks of substance use in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Abstract

Objective The study examined factors in the risk trajectory for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) over a 10–12 year period in children with ADHD. Method N=145 children between the ages of 7 and 16 with ADHD and healthy controls were assessed every 2 years for 10–12 years as part of a larger, longitudinal investigation. Onset of substance use disorder was examined using Cox proportional hazards modeling, and included child and parent psychopathology, and parental warmth as well as other key factors. Results Low paternal warmth and maternal SUD were predictors of SUD in n=59 ADHD participants after adjusting for gender, child ODD, paternal SUD, maternal/paternal ADHD, maternal/paternal major depressive disorder (MDD), maternal/paternal anxiety, and low maternal warmth in the Cox model. Conclusions Longitudinal study findings suggest that in addition to the established risk of ADHD and maternal SUD in development of child SUD, low paternal warmth is also associated with onset of SUD. This was evident after controlling for pertinent parent and child psychopathology. These findings suggest that paternal warmth warrants further investigation as a key target for novel interventions to prevent SUD in children with ADHD. More focused investigations examining paternal parenting factors in addition to parent and child psychopathology in the risk trajectory from ADHD to SUD are now warranted.

Father Love and Mother Love: Contributions of Parental Acceptance to Children's Psychological Adjustment

“…Dominy, Johnson, and Koch () asked individuals with and without a binge‐eating disorder to recall their fathers' and mothers' parenting; they found that individuals with an eating disorder reported a considerably higher level of paternal (not maternal) rejection. Tandon, Tillman, Spitznagel, and Luby () explored links between parenting behavior and substance‐use disorder among individuals with a history of attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and found that paternal (not maternal) warmth significantly predicted later onset of substance‐use disorder. These findings jointly established perceived paternal acceptance as a powerful determinant of undesirable developmental outcomes.…”

The role of family functioning in parenting practices of court‐involved youth

“…Parent psychopathology and distress can have different effects on several family factors (Van Loon et al, 2014). Adolescents are more likely to experience externalizing and internalizing behaviors, demonstrate deviant behavior, and be at higher risk for developing a substance use disorder if they have a parent with a mental illness or substance use disorder (Finan, Schulz, Gordon, & McCauley Ohannessian, 2015; Nijjar, Ellenbogen, & Hodgins, 2016; Tandon, Tillman, Spitznagel, & Luby, 2014; Van Loon et al, 2014). Families with a mentally ill parent also show lower levels of family expressiveness and report greater family conflict compared to those without a mentally ill parent (Horwitz, Briggs‐Gowan, Storfer‐Isser, & Carter, 2007; Van Loon et al, 2014).…”

“One of the Most Precious Experiences I Have Had as a Teacher!” Embodied Mindfulness and Compassion Nurture Addiction-Preventive and Pro-Democratic Life Skills and Relationships Between Teachers and Students - A Phenomenological Exploration

“…Long-term observational studies over 12 years, from grades 1-12, identified the absence of teacherstudent warmth as a predictor for the conduct problems of students [36]. Parental warmth was found to discourage substance use in another longitudinal study conducted for 12 years [37]. A three-year prospective study on the development of problematic internet use (PIU) in 12-15-yearold teenagers found that "a combination of maternal authoritarian and paternal neglectful parenting was associated with PIU probability as high as 20.9%".…”