Protecting against intergenerational problem behavior: mediational effects of prevented marijuana use on second-generation parent-child relationships and child impulsivity.
BACKGROUND
The aims of the study were to identify pathways from parent marijuana use to child problem behavior and parent-child relationships, and to evaluate whether effects of an earlier prevention program delivered to parents when they themselves were early adolescents would have a protective effect on these relationships one generation later.


METHODS
Structural equation models were applied to the data of a second-generation study of a drug abuse prevention trial. Models assessed whether there were sustained marijuana prevention effects on adults who had at least one school-age child at the end of the emerging adulthood period (age 26, n=257), and whether these effects mediated subsequent parent-child relationships and child impulsivity when parents were between the ages of 28 and 34.


RESULTS
Participants originally assigned to the program group used significantly less marijuana in early adulthood than did controls. In turn, parental marijuana use was positively related to child impulsivity and negatively to parental warmth, but not significantly related to parental aggression.


CONCLUSIONS
Results suggest both a direct relationship from parental marijuana use to child impulsivity, as well as indirect relationships through parent-child interactions. Results also strongly support a role for early adolescent prevention programs for drug use, both for participants' own long-term benefit, as well as for the benefit of their future children.
Riggs
Nathaniel R
NR
University of Southern California, Institute for Prevention Research, 1000 S. Fremont Avenue, Unit #8, Alhambra, CA 91803, United States. nriggs@usc.edu
Chou
Chih-Ping
CP
Pentz
Mary Ann
MA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D008385:Marijuana Smoking / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D017008:Negotiating; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D055815:Young Adult