Vulnerability, transgenerationality, parenting styles, and use of psychoactive substances by adolescents

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parenting styles, family psychological vulnerability environment (FPVE) and drug use among adolescents. Design/methodology/approach The quantitative survey using paper and pencil was administered to collect data from 284 parents registered with a paediatric clinic in the city of São Paulo (Brazil), most of whom claimed that their children used drugs. FPVE was measured by eight scales: family relationship patterns and drug use habits; hereditary predisposition to drug use; transmission of moral values to children (reverse); parents’ hereditary predisposition; parental drug use; depression; impulsiveness; and anxiety. Findings Dimensions of FPVE that had effect on drug use by adolescents were: the family relationship and drug use patterns of the family of procreation, drug use by the parents and heredity in relation to drug use. Conversely, the family relationship and drug use patterns of the family of origin and the parents’ anxiety, symptoms of depression and impulsiveness did not affect their children’s drug use. Research limitations/implications One limit of this study is the sample of parents. These parents were parents of adolescents that were at psychological treatment. The authors do not know if part of parents who declared that their children are not drug users, because the treatment effect. Another limit is that this study did not compare the effect of parents’ drugs misuse with parents that do not use drugs on adolescent drug use. One other limit is that the parents were treated regardless of whether they were mothers or fathers. Originality/value This study expands the study of the antecedents of drug use by adolescents, considering FPVE as a construct. Regarding this construct when facing resources limitation, the practitioners can prioritize strategies to prevent adolescent drug use.