Parent-adolescent relationship characteristics and adolescent cannabis use: A growth curve analysis

Background: Adolescent cannabis misuse may be associated with serious academic, conduct, and health problems. Identifying factors associated with adolescent cannabis misuse over time may provide insight to address these factors in interventions. Parent-adolescent relationship characteristics (i.e., attachment, discipline) have been linked to adolescent cannabis misuse and may be important factors to study. Objectives: We investigated time-varying associations between parent-adolescent relationship domains and weekly adolescent-reported cannabis misuse. We hypothesized that during times when parents reported less positive aspects of their relationship with their adolescents, adolescents would report higher levels of cannabis misuse. Methods: Data were drawn from a community clinic treatment study for adolescents with substance use and co-occurring psychiatric disorders (n=110; average age=15.71; 57.3% male). Latent growth modeling with time-varying predictors (parent-adolescent relationship characteristics) was used to examine if the associations between adolescent cannabis misuse and relational frustration, discipline, and attachment varied across the study period (baseline, 3-, 6-, and 12-months). Results: Weekly cannabis misuse significantly increased over time, even after accounting for parental relationship characteristics. When parents rated higher levels of relational frustration relative to their average level of frustration, adolescents reported higher cannabis misuse at all study periods except 12-month follow-up. Conclusion: Results support the importance of considering how specific aspects of the parentadolescent relationship, in this case elevated parental frustration, are associated with adolescent cannabis misuse during treatment and after its completion. Findings suggest parental relationship frustration is a key factor to assess and address within individually tailored interventions for co-occurring cannabis misuse and psychiatric disorders.