Individual, Family, and Peer Affiliation Factors Predisposing to Early‐Age Onset of Alcohol and Drug Use

Abstract

In this study, a multifactorial model of liability to early-age alcohol and drug use was elucidated on a sample of sons of substance-abusing fathers (n = 59) and sons of normal fathers (n = 71) at time 1 when the boys were 10-12 years of age. Three hierarchical regression analyses were computed to test models to identify salient risk characteristics associated with sons' perception of family dysfunction unconventional activities among peers, and affiliation with peers engaged in delinquent behaviors. The respective models explained 28% of the variance on sons' Dysfunctional Family Index scores, 21% of the variance on sons' Conventional Activities of Friends Scale scores, and 53% of the variance was accounted for on sons' Peer Delinquency Scale scores. In subsequent logistic regression analyses, a multifactorial model comprised of individual, family, and peer risk characteristics obtained at time 1 correctly predicted 83.7% of sons who had used alcohol and/or drugs by time 2 when they were 12-14 years old. The findings also suggest that temperament phenotype influences family interaction patterns that in turn influence the psychosocial development of the child.