An intergenerational investigation of the associations between parental marijuana use trajectories and child functioning.

Abstract

Diverse patterns of life-course marijuana use may have differential health impacts for the children of users. Data are drawn from an intergenerational study of 426 families that included a parent, their oldest biological child, and (where appropriate) another caregiver who were interviewed 10 times from 2002 to 2018; the current study used data from 380 families in waves 6–10. Analyses linked parent marijuana use trajectories estimated in a previous publication (Epstein et al., 2015) to child marijuana, alcohol, and nicotine use; promarijuana norms; internalizing; externalizing; attention problems; and grades using multilevel modeling among children ages 6 to 21. Four trajectories had been found in the previous study: nonuser, chronic, adolescent-limited, and late-onset. Results indicate that children of parents in the groups that initiated marijuana use in adolescence (chronic and adolescent-limited) were most likely to use substances. Children of parents in the late-onset group, where parents initiated use in young adulthood, were not at increased risk for substance use but were more likely to have attention problems and lower grades. Results held when parent current marijuana use was added to the models. Implications of this work highlight the importance of considering both current use and use history in intergenerational transmission of marijuana use, and the need to address parent use history in family based prevention. Prevention of adolescent marijuana use remains a priority.

Parents’ Cannabis-Related Attitudes and Emerging Adult Offspring Cannabis Use: Testing the Mediating Effect of Perceived Parental Approval

“…Contrary to prior work, parental cannabis use did not predict emerging adult cannabis use directly or indirectly through perceived approval (e.g. Andrews et al, 1997;Epstein et al, 2020;Hill et al, 2018;Madras et al, 2019). This is likely due to the low endorsement of use (87% of parents reported no past year use).…”

“…With regard to modeling behavior, parents serve as salient role models, as well as a proximal source of information regarding substance use behavior, including cannabis use (Petraitis et al, 1995). Supporting this are studies showing parental cannabis use to be associated with early and late adolescent and emerging adult cannabis use (Andrews et al, 1997;Bailey et al, 2016;Epstein et al, 2020;Hill et al, 2018;Madras et al, 2019;Miller et al, 2013). Taken together, these studies provide evidence of a direct parent-offspring cannabis associations.…”

“…Parental cannabis use at higher levels is likely a more salient influence in the family environment and past work supports this association (e.g. Epstein et al, 2020;Hill et al, 2018;Madras et al, 2019). Parental cannabis use effects may be more evident or outweigh the effect of parental expectancies in such samples.…”

The Role of Family in the Intergenerational Transmission of Collective Action

“…Family socialization over years and decades is crucial for shaping the attitudes and behaviors of children in both individualistic and collectivist societies. Family influences are observable for a range of actions, from antisocial behavior (Thornberry et al, 2003) and substance abuse (Epstein et al, 2019) to healthy eating (Sumodhee & Payne, 2016) or pro-environmental behaviors (Collado et al, 2019). There is also robust evidence associating parents' views with the political development of their children (Sears & Levy, 2003), children's political standpoints (Sears & Brown, 2013), and political experiences (Dotti Sani & Quaranta, 2015;Quintelier et al, 2007).…”

Marijuana use among adolescents: a cross-sectional study with Brazilian students from a remote area of the Amazon region

“…Adolescents of parents who use marijuana are 2.5 to 4.4 times more likely to use marijuana, and 1.8 to 2.75 times more likely to use alcohol, compared to adolescents of parents who do not use marijuana. In addition, adolescents of parents who use marijuana are more likely to use tobacco, report more favorable opinions about marijuana, and have reduced school performance (lower grades) (Epstein al., 2020).…”