Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jul;110(7):1110-7.
doi: 10.1111/add.12914. Epub 2015 Apr 27.

Parental transmission of risk for cannabis use disorders to offspring

Derek B Kosty  1 , Richard F Farmer  1 , John R Seeley  1 , Jeff M Gau  1 , Susan C Duncan  1 , Peter M Lewinsohn  1
Affiliations

Parental transmission of risk for cannabis use disorders to offspring

Derek B Kosty et al. Addiction. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

Aims: We investigated the risk of cannabis use disorder (CUD) among probands as a function of parental psychopathology and explored parent-offspring gender concordance as a mechanism of parental CUD transmission to offspring.

Design: Four waves of data collection from a longitudinal epidemiological study of psychopathology among a regionally representative sample.

Setting: Participants were selected randomly from western Oregon, USA, and were initially assessed during mid-adolescence.

Participants: The reference sample included 719 probands and their biological mothers and fathers.

Measurements: CUD episodes among probands were assessed with semistructured diagnostic interviews between mid-adolescence and young adulthood. Life-time psychiatric disorders among parents of probands were assessed when probands were approximately 24 years of age.

Findings: There was an increased risk for CUD onset among probands with parental histories of CUD [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.30-2.88], hard drug use disorders (HR = 1.96, 95% CI = 1.32-2.90) or antisocial personality disorder (HR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.06-2.82). A significant parent-offspring gender concordance effect indicated that females with a maternal CUD history were at higher risk for CUD onset compared with females without a maternal CUD (HR = 3.10, 95% CI = 1.52-6.34). Maternal CUD was not associated with CUD onset among males (P = 0.570), nor was there evidence for parent-offspring gender concordance effects for paternal CUD-specific transmission (P = 0.114).

Conclusions: Parental histories of antisocial personality and illicit substance use disorders are associated with increased risk for cannabis use disorder onset in offspring, especially among females with maternal cannabis use disorder histories.

Keywords: Cannabis use disorders; familial transmission; gender concordance; marijuana; parental psychopathology; substance use disorders.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

References

    1. Boden JM, Fergusson D, Horwood J. Illicit drug use and dependence in a New Zealand birth cohort. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. 2006;40:156–163. - PubMed
    1. Moffitt TE, Caspi A, Kokaua J, Milne BJ, Polanczyk G, Poulton R. How common are common mental disorders? Evidence that lifetime prevalence rates are doubled by prospective versus retrospective ascertainment. Psychological Medicine. 2010;40:899–999. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wittchen H-U, Fröhlich C, Behrendt S, Günther A, Rehm J, Zimmermann P, et al. Cannabis use and cannabis use disorders and their relationship to mental disorders: A 10-year prospective-longitudinal community study in adolescents. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2007;88:S60–S70. - PubMed
    1. Farmer RF, Kosty DB, Seeley JR, Duncan SC, Lynskey MT, Rohde P, et al. Natural course of cannabis use disorders. Psychological Medicine. 2015:63–72. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bolla KI, Brown K, Eldreth D, Tate K, Cadet JL. Dose related neurocognitive effects of marijuana use. Neurology. 2002;59:1337–1343. - PubMed

Publication types