Substance use disorder (SUD) morbidity versus number of parents with SUD

Objectives: To assess the association between numbers of parents (i.e., 0, 1 or 2) with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and proband's SUD severity and morbidity. Design: Descriptive, cross-sectional. Settings: Alcohol-drug treatment programs in two university medical centers. Subjects: 597 voluntary patients aged 18 and older with SUD; adoptees excluded. Results: On univariate analysis, parental SUD was associated with ten characteristics. On logistic regression analysis, having any parental SUD was associated with lower socioeconomic status, younger age at using tobacco, more severity on M-SAPS, and lower psychosocial function in the last year (Axis 5) as threshold effects. Logistic regression analysis comparing 1 versus 2 parents with SUD showed that those with 2 SUD parents began using alcohol at an earlier age as compared with having 1 SUD parent; this was an additive effect. Conclusions: Parental SUD affects the proband's SUD severity in a threshold fashion.