Familial factors influencing the consumption of anxiolytics and hypnotics by children and adolescents.
Many hypotheses have been made to explain the high rate of benzodiazepine consumption in France, including a general cultural and/or familial tendency to use certain types of psychotropic drugs. This study explored the association between lifetime medication use by parents and their children. Two hundred and twenty-one young patients (158 boys and 63 girls) consulting at a child and adolescent psychiatry department, six to 16 years of age (mean = 9.7 years), were screened for lifetime use of psychotropic drugs using a structured interview. Parents were asked about their own consumption, as well as their children's. Lifetime consumption rates (at least once) were 22.2% in boys and 20.6% in girls, and 19.6% in children less than 11 years old. Higher rates were found in patients with emotional disorders (anxiety disorders and depression). In parents, 45.1% of mothers and 24.1% of fathers reported using medications at least once. A significant association was found between child and parental medication use: 34.1% of children had positive lifetime consumption when their mothers also used medications at least once versus only 13.6% in other children (odds ratio = 3.31 [1.68-6.50]; P = 0.001). The most significant association was found between medication use by girls and their mothers (odds ratio = 12.1 [2.38-61.5]; P = 0.003). These data point to the existence of a family pattern of psychotropic drug consumption, especially in females.
Department of Psychiatry, Hôpital Fernand-Widal, AP-HP, 200 rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis, F75010 Paris, France. antoine.pelissolo@psl.ap-hop-paris.fr
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A
Pélissolo
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Gourion
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Notides
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Bouvard
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Lépine
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Mouren-Siméoni
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives