Life events of adolescents in relation to personal and parental substance abuse

Abstract

The author examined the life events reported by 138 adolescents in relation to their own and their parents'' alcohol and/or drug use. The 62 adolescents who were substance abusers reported more negative events involving deviance and emotional distress and evaluated the life events they experienced as less desirable than did the 76 nonabusing adolescents. Substance-abusing adolescents and the 31 nonabusing adolescents with substance-abusing parents experienced comparable numbers of stressful life experiences; however, the type and qualitative features of the events differed. Adolescents with substance abuse in only one family generation experienced more emotional distress than those with substance use patterns consistent across generations.