Antisocial behavior, substance use, and somatization in families of adolescent drug abusers and adolescent controls

Symptoms of conduct disorder (CD), antisocial personality disorder (ASP), alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and somatization were tabulated for the families of 35 delinquent, substance-abusing (multiple-problem) adolescent male probands and 35 age-matched control males. Alcohol abuse, CD/ASP, and somatization were assessed with either the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) (for participants aged 18 and up) or the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents (DICA) (for participants aged 12 to 17). Drug abuse for all participants was assessed with the Substance Abuse Module (SAM) of the Comprehensive Interview for Diagnostic Evaluation (CIDE). As expected, proband groups had significantly more (p < .0001) CD/ASP, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse symptoms than control groups. A significant (p < .01) positive correlation among CD/ASP, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse was found for each group. Somatization was not differentially associated with proband status. It was concluded that identifying male multiple-problem youths also identifies families with a high incidence of similar problems.