PARENT DRUG-USE PROBLEMS AND ADULT INTIMATE RELATIONS - ASSOCIATIONS AMONG COMMUNITY SAMPLES OF YOUNG-ADULT WOMEN AND MEN

Clinical and anecdotal evidence suggests that being raised by drug-abu sing parents may create problems with intimacy in later life. Nearly a ll previous work has failed to consider other types of family dysfunct ion as a precursor to problems with adult intimacy. Many empirical ana lyses of adult children of drug users (ACDUs) have been compromised by several methodological and conceptual inadequacies, including sample biases, overly simplistic operationalization of ACDU status, and limit ed analytic procedures. Structural equation models were used to analyz e data from a community sample of men and women to address many of the se defects. For both women and men, parent drug-use problems predicted poor family support, and family support was strongly associated with good adult intimate relations. Furthermore, for men, more parent drug- use problems reduced dyadic adjustment, increased dependence, and had a specific effect on reducing dating competence. For women, parent dru g-use problems had no direct effects on adult intimacy or relationship variables.