Parental bonding and patterns of drug use amongst Greek youth

This project attempted to identify patterns of drug use amongst youth of Greek descent and the parental relationships. The sample consisted of 112 subjects (69 females, 43 males). The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was administered, together with a multiple choice questionnaire attempting to assess levels of drug use for 11 drug categories. The findings revealed that subjects viewed their parents as more caring and protective than the general youth population. Overall, it was the constraining type of maternal and paternal bonding (high care, high protection) that yielded the lowest levels of drug use for both sexes, and the paternal neglecting type for females (low care, low protection) that yielded the highest levels. Patterns of drug use between sexes were similar for similar types of maternal bonding; however, in the paternal neglecting type, females showed the highest levels of use while males the lowest. These findings lead to the conclusion that the relative constraining attitudes of Greek parents that may be seen as 'over-protective' in the Anglo-Australian culture might have led to insulation or resilience in the face of high availability and widespread use of drugs. When these conditions deteriorate the experimentation and misuse is a possibility for both sexes, especially for females who become more vulnerable.