Effects of substance use spans generations

NEW YORK, Sep 5 (Reuters) Indeed the apple may not fall from the tree in terms of substance use -- especially cigarette smoking -- and behavior problems, new study findings show.

In a long-term study conducted across three generations, researchers found that substance use in one generation was associated with problem behaviors and later substance use in the following generation. In turn, the substance use in the second generation was related to problem behaviors in the third generation.

The findings suggest that ''not only does parent's substance use affect their children but it also can affect their grandchildren,'' study co-author Jennifer A Bailey, of the University of Washington, in Seattle, Washington, told Reuters Health.

On the other hand, ''the benefits of successful intervention may also echo across generations,'' Bailey and her co-authors write, so the findings highlight the importance of interrupting the intergenerational cycle.

For the current study, Bailey and her team analyzed data from the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP), which includes 808 individuals who were followed from the age of 10 to 27, and The Intergenerational Project, which included study participants from the SSDP group who had a biological child.

The researchers explored substance use and problem behaviors among the original 808 study participants as well as among their parents and their children, who ranged in age from 1 to 13 years old.

They found that grandparents who smoked, used marijuana, or engaged in heavy drinking were more likely to have children with problem behaviors, such as attention problems and stealing, during adolescence. These problem behaviors at ages 13 to 14 were associated with later substance use at ages 15 to 18, during early adulthood, and at age 27, the investigators report in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.

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