Abstract
This study reports on rates and predictors of sex risk behavior among a sample of adolescent and young adult children of parents enrolled in methadone treatment for opiate addiction. Data are from 151 participants (80 males, 71 females) in the Focus on Families (FOF) project, a randomized trial of a family intervention and a study of the development of at-risk children. The study participants are children of parents enrolled in methadone treatment between 1990 and 1993. Participants were interviewed in 2005 when they ranged in age from 15 to 29 years. In the year prior to the follow-up, 79 % of the males and 83 % of females were sexually active, 26 % of males and 10 % of females had more than one partner in the prior year, and 34 % of males and 24 % of females reported having sex outside of a committed relationship. Twenty-four percent of males and 17 % of females met criteria for high-risk sexual behavior, reporting casual or multiple partners in the prior year and inconsistent condom use. Participants in the intervention and control conditions did not differ significantly in terms of any measure of sex risk behavior examined. None of the measures of parent behavior and family processes derived from data at baseline of the FOF study predicted whether participants engaged in high-risk sex. Among measures derived from data collected at long-term follow-up, however, having ever met criteria for substance abuse or dependence predicted greater likelihood of high-risk sexual behavior, and being married or being in a romantic relationship was associated with lower likelihood of high-risk sexual behavior. The findings point to the important role of committed relationships in regulating sex risk behavior among this population, as well as heightened levels of sex risk behavior associated with substance abuse or dependence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders DSM-IV-TR (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469–480.
Arnett, J. J. (2005). The developmental context of substance use in emerging adulthood. Journal of Drug Issues, 35, 235–254.
Bachman, J. G., Wadsworth, K. N., O'Malley, P. M., Johnston, L. D., & Schulenberg, J. E. (1997). Smoking, drinking, and drug use in young adulthood: The impacts of new freedoms and new responsibilities. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Bailey, J. A. (2009). Editorial: Addressing common risk and protective factors can prevent a wide range of adolescent risk behaviors. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45, 107–108.
Bailey, J. A., Fleming, C. B., Henson, J. N., Catalano, R. F., & Haggerty, K. P. (2008). Sexual risk behavior 6 months post-high school: Associations with college attendance, living with a parent, and prior risk behavior. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42, 573–579.
Bailey, J. A., Haggerty, K. P., White, H. R., & Catalano, R. F. (2011). Associations between changing developmental contexts and risky sexual behavior in the 2 years following high school. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 40, 951–960.
Barnard, M., & McKeganey, N. (2004). The impact of parental problem drug use on children: What is the problem and what can be done to help? Addiction, 99, 552–559.
Bearinger, L. H., & Resnick, M. D. (2003). Dual method use in adolescents: A review and framework for research on use of STD and pregnancy protection. Journal of Adolescent Health, 32, 340–349.
Catalano, R. F. (1991). Parenting as risk-focused prevention. Family Resource Coalition Report, 10, 12–13.
Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (1996). The social development model: A theory of antisocial behavior. In J. D. Hawkins (Ed.), Delinquency and crime: Current theories (pp. 149–197). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Catalano, R. F., Haggerty, K. P., Gainey, R. R., & Hoppe, M. J. (1997). Reducing parental risk factors for children's substance misuse: preliminary outcomes with opiate-addicted parents. Substance Use and Misuse, 32, 699–721.
Catalano, R. F., Gainey, R. R., Fleming, C. B., Haggerty, K. P., & Johnson, N. O. (1999). An experimental intervention with families of substance abusers: One-year follow-up of the Focus on Families project. Addiction, 94, 241–254.
Catalano, R. F., Haggerty, K. P., Fleming, C. B., Brewer, D. D., & Gainey, R. R. (2002). Children of substance abusing parents: Current findings from the Focus on Families project. In R. J. McMahon & R. D. V. Peters (Eds.), The effects of parental dysfunction on children (pp. 179–204). New York: Kluwer Academic Press/Plenum.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2003). Sexually transmitted disease surveillance. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Chia-Chen Chen, A., & Thompson, E. A. (2007). Preventing adolescent risky sexual pehavior: Parents matter!! Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 12, 119–122.
Dariotis, J. K., Sonenstein, F. L., Gates, G. J., Capps, R., Astone, N. M., Pleck, J. H., et al. (2008). Changes in sexual risk behavior as young men transition to adulthood. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 40, 218–225.
Ellickson, P. L., McCaffrey, D. F., & Klein, D. J. (2009). Long-term effects of drug prevention on risky sexual behavior among young adults. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45, 111–117.
Farrington, D. P. (1998). Predictors, causes, and correlates of male youth violence. In M. Tonry & M. H. Moore (Eds.), Crime and justice: A review of research (Youth violence, Vol. 24, pp. 421–475). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., et al. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults: The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14, 245–258.
Fritz, M. S., & MacKinnon, D. P. (2007). Required sample size to detect the mediated effect. Psychological Science, 18, 233–239.
Surgeon General. (1988). The health consequences of smoking: Nicotine addiction: A report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Griffin, K. W., Botvin, G. J., & Nichols, T. R. (2006). Effects of a school-based drug abuse prevention program for adolescents on HIV risk behavior in young adulthood. Prevention Science, 7, 103–112.
Haggerty, K. P., Fleming, C. B., Catalano, R. F., Petrie, R. S., Rubin, R. J., & Grassley, M. H. (2008). Ten years later: Locating and interviewing children of drug abusers. Evaluation and Program Planning, 31, 1–9.
Halpern, C. T., Kaestle, C. E., Guo, G., & Hallfors, D. (2007). Gene-environment contributions to young adult sexual partnering. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 36, 543–554.
Hartel, D. M., & Schoenbaum, E. E. (1998). Methadone treatment protects against HIV infection: Two decades of experience in the Bronx, New York City. Public Health Reports, 113(Suppl 1), 107–115.
Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., Jones, G., & Fine, D. N. (1987). Delinquency prevention through parent training: Results and issues from work in progress. In J. Q. Wilson & G. C. Loury (Eds.), From children to citizens: Vol. III. Families, schools, and delinquency prevention (pp. 186–204). New York: Springer.
Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Miller, J. Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance-abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 64–105.
Hawkins, J. D., Herrenkohl, T., Farrington, D. P., Brewer, D., Catalano, R. F., & Harachi, T. W. (1998). A review of predictors of youth violence. In R. Loeber & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 106–146). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hogan, D. M. (1998). Annotation: the psychological development and welfare of children of opiate and cocaine users: review and research needs. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 39, 609–620.
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. L. (1977). Problem behavior and psychological development: A longitudinal study of youth. New York: Academic.
Johnson, J. L., & Leff, M. (1999). Children of substance abusers: Overview of research findings. Pediatrics, 103, 1085–1099.
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., & Walters, E. E. (2005). Lifetime prevalence and age-of-onset distributions of DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 593–602.
King, K. M., Nguyen, H., Kosterman, R., Bailey, J. A., & Hawkins, J. D. (2012). Co-occurrence of sexual risk behaviors and substance use across emerging adulthood: Evidence for state- and trait-level associations. Addiction, 107, 1288–1296.
Kraut-Becher, J., Eisenberg, M., Voytek, C., Brown, T., Metzger, D. S., & Aral, S. (2008). Examining racial disparities in HIV: Lessons from sexually transmitted infections research. JAIDS Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 47, S20–S27.
Kumpfer, K. L. (1987). Special populations: Etiology and prevention of vulnerability to chemical dependency in children of substance abusers. In B. S. Brown & A. R. Mills (Eds.), Youth at high risk for substance abuse (pp. 1–72). Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Lonczak, H. S., Abbott, R. D., Hawkins, J. D., Kosterman, R., & Catalano, R. F. (2002). Effects of the Seattle Social Development Project on sexual behavior, pregnancy, birth, and sexually transmitted disease outcomes by age 21 years. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 156, 438–447.
Marlatt, G. A., & Gordon, J. R. (1985). Relapse prevention: Maintenance strategies in the treatment of addictive behaviors. New York: Guilford Press.
Miller, B. C., Benson, B., & Galbraith, K. A. (2001). Family relationships and adolescent pregnancy risk: A research synthesis. Developmental Review, 21, 1–38.
Patterson, G. R., Chamberlain, P., & Reid, J. B. (1982). A comparative evaluation of a parent-training program. Behavior Therapy, 13, 638–650.
Pearson, J., Muller, C., & Frisco, M. L. (2006). Parental involvement, family structure, and adolescent sexual decision-making. Sociological Perspectives, 49, 69–70.
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1993). Crime in the making: Pathways and turning points through life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
SAS Institute. (2002). SAS/STAT Software, Version 8.2: The MIANALYZE Procedure. Retrieved December 12, 2002 from http://www.sas.com/rnd/app/papers/miv802.pdf.
Skinner, M. L., Haggerty, K. P., Fleming, C. B., & Catalano, R. F. (2009). Predicting functional resilience among young-adult children of opiate-addicted parents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44, 283–290.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An earlier version of this paper was presented in May 2008 at the Society for Prevention Research annual meeting held in San Francisco, CA.
This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01 DA17908-03). The content of this paper is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Skinner, M.L., Fleming, C.B., Haggerty, K.P. et al. Sex Risk Behavior Among Adolescent and Young Adult Children of Opiate Addicts: Outcomes From the Focus on Families Prevention Trial and an Examination of Childhood and Concurrent Predictors of Sex Risk Behavior. Prev Sci 15 (Suppl 1), 70–77 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0327-9
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0327-9