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. 2023 Jul;44(7):1838-1858.
doi: 10.1177/0192513x211064877. Epub 2022 Jan 7.

Familial Predictors of Alcohol and Drug Use-Related Problems Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Sara E Miller  1   2 , Jennifer L Maggs  1 , Rina D Eiden  3 , David M Almeida  1   2
Affiliations

Familial Predictors of Alcohol and Drug Use-Related Problems Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Sara E Miller et al. J Fam Issues. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

This study evaluated whether recent family member alcohol and substance use problems (ASP) and density of family ASP (i.e., number of members with ASP) predict alcohol-related problems and drug use-related problems among middle-aged and older adults. Data were drawn from participants (age 42-93 years, n=2,168) in the longitudinal Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS). Poisson regression models revealed that adults' alcohol- and drug use-related problems were predicted by similar problems among family members. In particular, parent and partner ASP, but not child ASP, predicted alcohol-related problems in the middle-aged and combined samples, while only partner ASP predicted participants' drug use-related problems. In addition, density of family ASP predicted alcohol-related problems, but not drug use-related problems. There were no gender interactions. Study findings highlight that understanding how adult children, spouses, and aging parents impact each other's substance use should be a priority of future aging and family research.

Keywords: Alcohol; Drug use; Family; Problem Drinking.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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