Drug Risk: A Cross-Sectional Exploration of the Influence of Family-of-Origin and Current Situational Circumstances

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Molly M Perkins, Emory University; Kirk Elifson, Emory University; Claire E Sterk, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2010-04-01
• Publisher: SAGE Publications (UK and US)
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2010 BY THE JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES
• Final Published Version (URL): http://jod.sagepub.com/content/40/2/353
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Journal of Drug Issues
• ISSN: 0022-0426
• Volume: 40
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 353
• End Page: 378
• Grant/Funding Information: This research was supported by NIDA grant R01DA1009819-08.
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to investigate potential predictors of drug risk among a community-based sample of individuals who are exposed to illicit drugs. The four domains of interest are individual socio-demographic and social-psychological attributes, current situational circumstances and family-of-origin characteristics. Interviews were conducted with 242 individuals who were recruited in Atlanta, Georgia. Initial descriptive analyses were followed by multivariate analyses. The final model predicted 60% of the variance in drug risk. Current situational circumstances were statistically significant regarding drug risk. Family-of-origin characteristics also were significant, even when entered into the predictive model after current situational circumstances. In addition to individual social-psychological characteristics such as depression and self-esteem, the impact of childhood emotional abuse is noted. The findings indicate a need for considering proximal as well as more distal influences on drug risk behavior when designing drug use prevention and intervention programs.