A Study On Early Adverse Experience In Family And Problem Behaviors In Childhood Contributing To Risk Of Later Substance Use And Related Problems

The major aim of the study was to investigate a Chinese cultural context,from a developmental perspective,how early adverse experience in family and problem behaviors in childhood contribute to later deviant behaviors,including substance use,psychopathological comorbidity and related crime.Adolescent's behavior of substance use shares similar a developmental trajectory with some other deviant behaviors,in which early adverse experience in family and problem behaviors play pivotal roles.However,the contribution of these early risk factors to adolescents'substance use appear to be not only a culture-universal phenomenon,but also a culture-specific expression.The study was therefore carried out,in a Chinese setting,to investigate the influence of early experience in a parent-absent family,poor parent-child relation in childhood,childhood ADHD symptoms and social-emotional difficulties,on later substance use behaviors and psychopathological comorbidities.Two hundred and ninety-nine drug abstainers in residential substance abuse treatment has been recruited in the study,and a retrospective interview has been administered to them,making use of a series of questionnaires,in order to collect data on their demographic profiles,early experience in family,early problem behaviors,drug abuse history,criminal history,psychopathological status,and psychosocial functioning indicators.After that,series of regression analyses were carried out to test the predicting effects of childhood experience in family and problem behaviors on later deviant behaviors.The results showed that:1.Most of drug abstainers in residential substance abuse treatment seemed to be in disadvantaged conditions as shown in their low levels of education,lack of steady job and ordinary income,lousy marriage and bad family life,which posed new challenges to their treatment and rehabilitation.2.There were significant gender differences not only in drug abstainers'demographic profiles,but also in their psychosocial functioning,perceived social support and treatment motivations,with females showing a more optimistic picture in most of cases.3.Living in a family with a single parent or no parent during their 0-6,7-12,or 13-18 years of age,all prone to contribute to risk for adolescent or early adulthood substance use and related deviant behaviors,with a largest predicting effect of the 13-18 years of age,suggesting that adolescents seem to be more sensitive to unsoundness of family.4.A poor parent-child relation in childhood predicted not only significantly earlier onset of drug use and juvenile delinquency,but also drug abuse,criminal behaviors and mental health problems in adulthood.However,the relationship vary with parent's gender or child's gender.5.Childhood ADHD symptoms and social-emotional difficulties predicted not only significantly earlier onset of drug use and juvenile delinquency,but also drug abuse,criminal behaviors and mental health problems in adulthood,and compared to ADHD symptoms,childhood social-emotional difficulties showed to be a better predictor for later deviant behaviors.6.Problem behaviors in childhood and personal psychosocial functioning tend to mediate the relationship between early poor parent-child relations and later deviant behaviors and psychopathological comorbidity.7.Personal psychosocial functioning and peer relationship tend to mediate the relationship between childhood problem behaviors and later deviant behaviors and psychopathological comorbidity.