Dependency Traits among Parents of Drug Abusers

Abstract

Recent studies cast doubt on whether there is a significant association between parents' dependency traits and drug habits in their offspring. Reported here is a survey of 1,091 young males in the U.S. Army. The reported occurrence of parents' alcohol consumption, smoking, use of stimulants and sedatives, and overeating were compared among abusers and non-users of hashish, amphetamines and opiates. The only parental trait that showed as much as a 20 per cent difference in occurrence between abusers and non-users was use of stimulants and sedatives by parents of opiate abusers. This study indicates that parental dependency traits may have less relationship to drug habits in their offspring than previously believed.