Abstract
Transactional developmental theories propose that poor parenting behaviors contribute to youth substance use, and youth substance use contributes to poor parenting behaviors. However, research aimed at testing these theories has not distinguished: (1) between- and within-person sources of variance; (2) maternal and paternal parenting behaviors; and (3) alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drug use. This study addressed these limitations by investigating the reciprocal associations between maternal and paternal warmth and hostility with alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drug use among justice-involved adolescents, an at-risk population for substance use. 1354 justice-involved adolescents (86.4% male; Mage = 16.04 [SD = 0.14], range = 14–17; 41.4% Black, 33.5% Hispanic, 20.2% White, 4.8% other race/ethnicity) completed self-reports assessing parental warmth, parental hostility, and substance use every six months for 36 months. Random-intercept structural equation models disaggregated between- and within-person associations. At the between-person level, maternal and paternal warmth were negatively associated with alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drug use, whereas maternal and paternal hostility were positively associated with alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drug use. At the within-person level, maternal and paternal warmth predicted decreases in marijuana and other illicit drug use, and paternal warmth predicted decreases in alcohol use six months later. Maternal hostility predicted increases in subsequent marijuana and other illicit drug use. Marijuana and other illicit drug use predicted decreases in subsequent paternal hostility. The results are partially consistent with transactional developmental models proposing recursive influences between parenting behaviors and youth substance use. Evocative effects were in the opposite direction than expected and specific to fathers, such that youth drug use was related to improvements in the father-youth relationship. The results support the potential utility of family-based interventions for substance use among justice-involved adolescents.
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06 May 2022
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-022-01626-0
Notes
Item-level data of The Quality of Parental Relationships Inventory is not publicly available, and the website only reports internal consistencies from the first five waves: https://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/codebook/parental-warmth-and-hostility-sb.html
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Acknowledgements
This project was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council doctoral award to the first author and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar award (#18240) to the fourth author.
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CR conceptualized the research question, drafted the manuscript, performed the statistical analyses, and interpreted the results; CB conceptualized the research question and helped draft/revise the manuscript; SC helped draft/revise the manuscript; BT supervised the project and helped conceptualize the research question and draft/revise the manuscript. All authors read and approved of the final manuscript.
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There is no funding associated with this manuscript. The Pathways to Desistance Study was funded by various groups, found here https://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/funders.html
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The datasets generated and/or analyzed in the current study are available in the National Addiction & HIV Data Archive Program, https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR29961.v2
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All study procedures were approved by the institutional review boards of the University of Pittsburgh, Arizona State University, and Temple University. Secondary analysis of this data was approved by the University of Victoria’s review board.
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Robillard, C.L., Balakrishnan, C., Craig, S.G. et al. A Two-Way Street? Reciprocal Associations Between Parental Warmth and Hostility with Substance Use Among Justice-Involved Adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 51, 1442–1456 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-022-01611-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-022-01611-7