Association between parental risk behaviors during childhood and the formation of high risk networks in adulthood

Prior research suggests that social networks influence individual behaviors and that a strong association exists between parental drug use and subsequent initiation of drug use and other high-risk behaviors in adolescence and adulthood. The purpose of this analysis was to determine if parental drug use during childhood was associated with having a high-risk drug-using network in adulthood. Between July 2006 and February 2009, 379 active young adult drug users (18-40 years of age) were recruited through targeted sampling and respondent driven sampling in New York City. Negative binomial regression models weighted by the log of total network size were used to assess this association using baseline data which ascertained parental drug use as a predictor of high-risk networks. The median age was 35 years, 13% injected drugs in the past 3 months, 52% were Black, and during childhood, 23% reported maternal drug use, 26% reported paternal drug use, and 13% reported drug use in primary caregivers. After adjusting for age, gender, high school education and individual crack use, maternal drug use was positively associated with having a crack-using network in adulthood (IRR=1.4; 95%CI:1.01-1.93). Similarly, after adjustment, drug use among primary caregivers was positively associated with having a crack-using network during adulthood (IRR=1.5; 95%CI:1.04-2.19). These data suggest that parental drug use is independently associated with formation of a high-risk drug-using network during adulthood, above and beyond the effect of an individual's drug use. Interventions that target parents/caregivers and promote drug cessation could help impede the formation of high-risk networks in adulthood.