Relapse is a common occurrence in the treatment of
adolescent substance abuse. It is estimated that one out of
three adolescents will relapse after treatment termination.
Although much attention has been given to family factors which
influence an adolescent's use and abuse of drugs, this same
vigorous attention has not been given to determining if family
factors play a role in an adolescent resuming drug use after
treatment termination. It has been theorized that the same
family factors which increase the risk of an adolescent to use
and abuse drugs also can help in gaining an understanding of why
relapse occurs. Three prominent theories used to explain family
factors associated with drug use/abuse and relapse are genetic
and social learning theories, and family dysfunction.
The purpose of this study was to investigate if familial
factors, as proposed from the theories presented, were predictive
of relapse. The sample in this study consisted of 31 adolescents
who entered drug treatment between 1986 and 1988. Follow-up data
of the adolescent's pattern of drug use since treatment discharge
were collected through telephone interviews with the parent or
guardian of the adolescent one and a half to nineteen months
after treatment. The family information used in this study was
collected through self-report questionnaires given to the
adolescent at time of treatment. Specific family variables used
in this study were: parental and sibling substance abuse history,
number of parents in residence, past experience of physical
and/or sexual abuse, and history of running away from home.
Regression analyses were used to assess if these family variables
were associated with relapse.
Results of the data analyses found partial support for
genetic and social learning theories of relapse, as well as
relapse from a family dysfunction perspective. Findings
indicated that adolescents who lived with only one parent or
neither parent in comparison to those who lived with both
parents, those who had experienced physical and/or sexual abuse,
and those who perceived their father as not having a history of
substance abuse were more at risk to relapse. Findings further
indicated a cross-gender effect in that male adolescents who
reported mother as having a substance abuse history were more
likely to relapse. This same finding was not found for females
in this study. The results indicate that given specific family
dynamics, a sub-population of adolescents may be targeted on
entrance to treatment to be at greater risk to relapse. / Graduation date: 1991
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/38055 |
| Date | 06 June 1990 |
| Creators | Coughlin, Chris D. |
| Contributors | Vuchinich, Samuel |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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