Although the risks and protective processes influencing substance use behaviors of adult Latinos have been increasingly examined in the literature, substance abuse among adult Latinas remains a relatively understudied area. This study examined associations between mother-daughter attachment and substance abuse among 158 Latina mothers and their adult daughters (N = 316). Dyads of mothers and daughters were categorized into four groups: (a) mother/daughter both drug or alcohol abusers (Dyad 1), (b) mother abuser and daughter non-abuser (Dyad 2), (c) mother non-abuser and daughter abuser (Dyad 3), and (d) mother/daughter both non-abusers (Dyad 4). Dyad 1 participants reported lower levels of attachment to each other than all other types of dyads. Participants born in the U.S. reported more substance abuse than their non-U.S. born counterparts. Future longitudinal research is recommended to determine the presence of a mother-daughter attachment threshold that, if established early and maintained, may act as a protective mechanism against the intergenerational co-occurrence of substance abuse among adult Latinas.
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