Risk Factors Linking Maternal Depressed Mood to Growth in Adolescent Substance Use

Abstract

Maternal depression has been implicated in the development of adolescent substance use. Conceptualizing depression as a continuum, the aims of this study were to (a) understand the relationship between maternal depressed mood and risk factors associated with adolescent substance use; (b) understand the relationship between maternal depressed mood and level and growth in adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use assessed at multiple time points during adolescence; and (c) examine the unique and relative contribution of maternal depressed mood after taking into account contextual risk factors related to adolescent substance use. Participants were 792 children and their mothers. Latent growth modeling was used with adolescent alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use treated as ordinal variables. Child depressive phenomena and child antisocial behavior partially explained the relationship between maternal depressed mood and adolescent alcohol and cigarette use. Mothers' own substance use did not contribute to level or change in adolescent substance use after other risk factors were considered. KeywordsAdolescent substance use; maternal depressed mood Maternal depression has been linked to poor developmental outcomes, including depression, conduct problems, and substance use, in children (Beardslee, Versage, & Gladstone, 1998;Downey & Coyne, 1990;Lewinsohn, Olino, & Klein, 2005). Among these problems, adolescent substance use is of special interest because most adolescents try alcohol, marijuana, or cigarettes during their high school years and because the potential long-term mental health consequences of substance use are severe (Brook, Brook, Zhang, Cohen, & Whiteman, 2002). We examine the relationship between exposure to maternal depressed mood during middle childhood and level and growth of alcohol, marijuana, and cigarette use during adolescence. Using a multiple risk factor model (Greenberg et al., 1999), we also examine the extent to which the relationship between maternal depressed mood and adolescent substance use is accounted for by parental substance use, child depressive phenomena, and childhood antisocial behavior.Research has shown that numerous risk and protective factors explain variance in adolescent substance use (Hawkins, Catalano, & Miller, 1992). This is consistent with the concept of equifinality, the notion of multiple pathways leading to one outcome (Cicchetti & Rogosch, Correspondence regarding this article and requests for reprints should be directed to Rebecca C. Cortes, University of Washington, Department of Psychology, Box 351525, Seattle, WA 98195-1525; e-mail: rcortes@u.washington.edu; phone: 206-616-1236; fax: 206-685-3157. cnbflem@u.washington.edu, wamason@u.washington.edu, catalano@u.washington 1996), and also underscores the challenge for researchers and practitioners concerned with the development and prevention of adolescent substance use. In early and middle childhood, parenting factors are particularly important, as parents are the primary socializing agents f...

The combined effects of parental divorce and parental history of depression on cannabis use in young adults in France

“…Finally, we did not have data on parental cannabis use or young adult depressive symptoms, which have been shown in some studies to affect cannabis use in offspring of parents affected by divorce or depression (Cortes et al, 2009;Hayatbakhsh et al, 2006). However, we controlled for parental cigarette smoking, which may be a proxy indicator of parental substance dependence (Degenhardt et al, 2001;Martinez-Ortega et al, 2006).…”

“…This compounded stress may contribute to the use of illegal drugs as a coping mechanism during the adolescent years of the young adults in our study (the average age of parental divorce was 17 years), which then have effects on substance use that extend into adulthood (Fawzy et al, 1983;Needle et al, 1990;Regan and Beaver, 2010). A study of non-clinical depression in mothers showed that it impacted adolescent offsprings' initiation of cannabis use (Cortes et al, 2009). …”

“…Cortes et al (2009) reported that similar to major depression, maternal depressive mood was also significantly associated with adolescent cannabis use.…”

“…These studies have largely focused on adolescents (Cortes et al, 2009;Hayatbakhsh et al, 2006;Ledoux et al, 2002;Needle et al, 1990;Neher and Short, 1998) compared to young adults (Leib et al, 2002;Hayatbakhsh et al, 2009). …”

“…To understand familial risk and protective factors associated with cannabis use, a number of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies have examined parental marital status (Amato and Keith, 1991;Hayatbakhsh et al, 2006;Ledoux et al, 2002;Needle et al, 1990), parental mental health status, (Weissman et al, 1997;Cortes et al, 2009) and their respective associations with illegal substance use (including cannabis) in children. These studies have largely focused on adolescents (Cortes et al, 2009;Hayatbakhsh et al, 2006;Ledoux et al, 2002;Needle et al, 1990;Neher and Short, 1998) compared to young adults (Leib et al, 2002;Hayatbakhsh et al, 2009).…”